The "center" doesn't usually indicate where most of the public is, but rather where elites have determined an appropriate middle between opposing arguments.
May
06
2013
What's the Standard on Reporting Israeli Airstrikes?
By 12 Comments
The claims made about Israeli airstrikes against Syria could be true, or not. What is certain is that the assessments of the airstrikes are being shared anonymously by governments involved in carrying them out, a scenario that cries out for more skepticism.
May
03
2013
FAIR TV: Syria Sarin Skepticism, Tom Friedman's Sick Madness, Darkening the Tsarnaevs
By 7 Comments
This week on FAIR TV: Do the claims about Syria's chemical weapons hold up? Tom Friedman's column about the "sick madness" of attacking innocents. The Week magazine turns the Caucasian Tsarnaev brothers into non-whites.
May
03
2013
The ACLU Is Like the NRA Because It Is
By 13 Comments
Decrying "the ability of well-funded extremist groups to thwart the will of the overwhelming majority," Time's Joe Klein cites defenders of Social Security–who, of course, are trying to thwart the will of an overwhelming minority.
May
03
2013
Guantanamo Prisoners as 'Reengaged' Terrorists
By 7 Comments
If Guantanamo prisoners are being held without charge, and there is no available evidence to charge them with any terrorism-related offenses, why is the Washington Post talking about the possibility that they may "reengage in extremist activity"?
May
01
2013
How Dare Hamid Karzai Take Our Money!
By 8 Comments
NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams had a most peculiar reaction to revelations that Afghan president Hamid Karzai receives regular deliveries of cash from the Central Intelligence Agency.
Apr
30
2013
Syria and the 'Red Line' Nonsense
By 6 Comments
The pundits' message on Barack Obama's talk of a "red line" on Syria is that they are concerned about the credibility of the president's threats of violence–much more so than about the credibility of his evidence.
Apr
30
2013
Breaking with Bush–Many Years Too Late
By 6 Comments
When someone says they "broke" with George W. Bush over the Iraq War, you might be inclined to think that they did that sometime before 2006 or so, which is about when Bush strategist-turned-TV pundit Matthew Dowd is saying he left.
Apr
30
2013
Cutting the Military Budget Is a Problem…for the Left?
By 13 Comments
The Washington Post presents a "paradox" wrapped in a "conundrum" inside a "quandary"–all on top of a big heaping of right-wing policy advice for the left.
Apr
29
2013
The Sick Madness of Tom Friedman's Culture
By 35 Comments
What is going on in our community that a critical number of our columnists believe that every American military action in the Middle East is justifiable?
Apr
25
2013
Bill O'Reilly's Dangerous Islamophobia
By 10 Comments
Fox's Bill O'Reilly, who hosts the most-watched cable news show, has spent much of the week making inflammatory claims about Islam. Sounds like somebody is looking for a religion to scapegoat–or, given his track record, some countries to attack.
Apr
24
2013
Drone Strike Testimony: Not News?
By 4 Comments
In a moment when media are fixated on terrorism and the possibility that some people might be motivated to carry out acts of violence against the United States in part because of the effects of U.S. wars, a Yemeni writer's account of the effects of drone strikes on his village would be well worth covering.
Apr
23
2013
Erin Burnett Wants a Different Kind of Terrorism Suspect
By 6 Comments
CNN host Erin Burnett wonders whether it's time to come up with some new laws in the wake of the Boston bombing, since the old ones seem to give Dzhokhar Tsarnaev too many rights.
