Israeli Government Press Office director Daniel Seaman has issued a statement declaring the al Durah incident to have been staged, the first such official Israeli government pronouncement. In the al Durah incident and its aftermath, so far only Charles Enderlin … Continue reading →
The front page of today’s NY Times features an article entitled “Big Coffers and a Rising Voice Lift a New Conservative Group.” It’s about the rise of Freedom Watch, formed to combat the anti-surge movement and the propaganda clout of … Continue reading →
Mary Mapes is back. Remember her? She had her fifteen minutes of fame—in her case, unwanted notoriety—as one of the 60 Minutes producers who worked on the program featuring the obviously forged Killian memos. In this extraordinary document, Mapes is … Continue reading →
I’ve likened the political machinations around the surge to theater. And today, as we await General Petraeus’s testimony, the usual players are taking on their customary roles. The MoveOn Left continues to consider it important to disqualify Petraeus as a … Continue reading →
I just love the following statement by Evan Thomas, Newsweek editor, concerning his periodical’s reporting of the Duke rape case: The narrative was right, but the facts were wrong. Thomas actually was one of the writers who wrote early on … Continue reading →
[Part I here.] In previous wars, allegations of atrocities have been made by either victims or witnesses. For example, in the case of My Lai, reports were originally made by US helicopter pilots who were shocked by what they saw … Continue reading →
Okay, class, I know it’s been said before, including by me. But I promise I’ll be (relatively) brief this time. Here’s how you write about Israel and Palestine if you’re a journalist today—even, apparently, if you work for the Voice … Continue reading →
Jules Crittenden has a well-worth-reading takedown of the NY Times’s editorial demanding that we get out of Iraq ASAP. I’m not going to spend a great deal of time exhaustively fisking the Times piece; Crittenden and others have done so … Continue reading →
When I was getting my Master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy, one of the major messages I learned was that words matter. Not just the words that clients use to each other, but the words the therapist uses in … Continue reading →
I’ve written before about journalist Seymour Hersh, whose work presently appears mainly in The New Yorker. Mr. “hardly ever met a source he was willing to name” Hersh (I’m quoting myself, by the way) has recently expanded his oeuvre by … Continue reading →
John McCain was once a media darling. The last time he ran for President, long ago and far away in 2000, the press couldn’t restrain itself from slobbering over him. Slobbering? Don’t blame me, it’s not my word. No lesser … Continue reading →
I’m reading a fascinating book by Robert Kagan entitled Dangerous Nation: America’s place in the world from its earliest days to the dawn of the twentieth century. A mouthful, I know–and that’s only Part I, which goes up to the … Continue reading →