Tag Archives: torture

PBS's 'Washington Bubble' Invisible to Inhabitants

Posted on 05/12/2009 by Gabriel Voiles

Noticing how PBS's Gwen Ifill has a penchant for "filling her Washington Week program with journalists who almost invariably agree with each other instead of actually debating the issues of the week," critic Charles Kaiser decided to contact her (CJR.org, … Continue reading →

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NYT Names 'Harsh Tactics' as 'Torture' — by Chinese

Posted on 05/09/2009 by Gabriel Voiles

Salon blogger Glenn Greenwald gets the site's lead story today (5/8/09, ad-viewing required) with an excerpt from the New York Times obituary for U.S. fighter pilot Harold E. Fischer Jr., who, as the Times headline puts it, was "Tortured in … Continue reading →

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Press Corp 'Dean' Preaches 'Purposeful Ignorance'

Posted on 05/08/2009 by Gabriel Voiles

Quoting John Dewey's warning about "the proper role of the press in a democracy"–"a class of experts is inevitably so removed from common interests as to become a class with private interests and private knowledge"–Eric Alterman finds it (Nation, 5/6/09) … Continue reading →

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NPR: 'Justifying and Sanitizing the U.S. Torture Regime'

Posted on 05/06/2009 by Gabriel Voiles

Blogging on how May 4 and 5 broadcasts "feature NPR continuing its function of justifying and sanitizing the U.S. torture regime," dedicated public radio critic Mytwords (NPR Check, 5/5/09) plumbs the depths of NPR's aversion to "human rights or international … Continue reading →

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On 'Normalized Torture' and Prosecution as a 'Cop-Out'

Posted on 05/05/2009 by Gabriel Voiles

Even though "James Risen, David Johnston and Neil A. Lewis first told the world about waterboarding in May 2004," Dan Froomkin (WashingtonPost.com, 5/4/09) is having to argue that "that doesn't mean that the rest of us are as guilty as … Continue reading →

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And Now, From the 'Hard Left': Ronald Reagan

Posted on 05/02/2009 by Gabriel Voiles

In his latest Salon blog entry (5/1/09, ad-viewing required), Glenn Greenwald displays his find of "a perfect illustration of how severely our political spectrum has shifted in the last two decades and how depraved and extremist our political and media … Continue reading →

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'Modifying Adjectives' Replace Torture Facts at NYT

Posted on 04/29/2009 by Gabriel Voiles

Brad Jacobson has an incisive take (Media Bloodhound, 4/29/09) on the consequences of mealy-mouthed torture language at the New York Times, where public editor Clark Hoyt provides he said/she said examples to show how the public has reacted. But in … Continue reading →

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Pol 'Thugs' Think Twice in Age of Internet Media

Posted on 04/29/2009 by Gabriel Voiles

Sure that Andrew Sullivan "would be horrified" by the idea that he and Cindy Sheehan agree on anything, Jonathan Schwarz nonetheless quotes (A Tiny Revolution, 4/25/09) the Atlantic.com blogger's declaration of "love" for the Internet, because "can you imagine what … Continue reading →

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The 'Important Historical Context' of Torture Punditry

Posted on 04/28/2009 by Gabriel Voiles

Quoting Newsweek columnist Jonathan Alter's strong words on the Keith Olbermann show about how "it's important, historically, to look at the context of" the "effort in these OLC memos to try to dress [torture] up as something else," Hullabaloo blogger … Continue reading →

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Bush Lie Lives On as Pro-Torture Spin Point

Posted on 04/26/2009 by Gabriel Voiles

David Swanson has noted (Consortium News, 4/23/09) that, as "much of elite U.S. punditry is backing away from torture," the Boston Globe's Jeff Jacoby is bucking that trend with an April 22 column in which "he both opposes torture under … Continue reading →

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Torture Memos Bring Out True Allegiances of MSM

Posted on 04/26/2009 by Gabriel Voiles

Writing at Salon (4/23/09, ad-viewing required) of how the "sheer criminality" of George W. Bush-era torture, "really for the first time, has exploded into mainstream political debates," Glenn Greenwald is thoroughly unsurprised by their behavior as "media stars are forced … Continue reading →

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The Exception That Proves the Rule

Posted on 04/22/2009 by Gabriel Voiles

Brad Jacobson has a new Media Bloodhound post (4/21/09) lauding CNN anchor Anderson Cooper for his "refreshing" refusal of "a generic phony Devil's advocate stance" when scholar Mark Danner "torpedoed" CNN analyst David Gergen's claim that the number of people … Continue reading →

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Unaccountability: 'A Trans-Partisan Religious Tenet of Beltway Culture'

Posted on 04/22/2009 by Gabriel Voiles

Blogging from his regular Salon perch (4/20/09, ad-viewing required), Glenn Greenwald notes that the public wants to investigate U.S. torture (that's what the polls tell us), but: These facts about public opinion are virtually always excluded from establishment media discussions, … Continue reading →

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Glimpsing Journalism's 'Devouring Black Hole of Corruption'

Posted on 04/22/2009 by Gabriel Voiles

A Tiny Revolution blogger Jonathan Schwarz (4/18/09) samples the response to Mike Allen of Politico's quote of "a former top official in the administration of President George W. Bush" calling the publishing of U.S. torture memos "damaging because these are … Continue reading →

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Update: Richard Cohen

Posted on 01/28/2009 by Steve Rendall

Far from holding the feet of the powerful to the fire, "liberal" Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen is the very model of the establishment-protecting beltway hack. Glenn Greenwald walks us through Cohenâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s history of cheering for the capital's criminal class, … Continue reading →

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