Free Republic

When I usually come across articles about slavery reparations, I scan through them at best, and ignore them at worst. I am convinced that after witnessing a Slavery Reparations Rally on the National Mall a few years ago, I have given the argument enough thought to realize that I could not disagree more. A couple friend of mine even had the honor of being singled out by the mob, and was serenaded along their leisurely stroll to the repetitive chant of, "white devils!" Unfortunately and unfairly, I recollect this image whenever I hear or read an argument for apologies or...

I've been searching for the perfect way to describe the fashion that the liberal press covers the Bush Administration, conservatives and their policies. It's always been difficult, because journalists continually adapt their approaches to maximize insult and injury. Sometimes they try to imply guilt by association. Other times they report rumors and innuendo as fact. They often underreport or completely ignore stories that favor the Administration, and then over-hype anything that can be seen as damaging. But I finally realized that I have seen this kind of mass manipulation before. As a matter of fact, it was thoroughly depicted over...

Cliff Kincaid wrote an interesting article titled, Taboo Topics in Journalism Today. He claimed: "The old media, with their documented and demonstrable liberal bias, have lost much of their clout. But through the networks, the major papers, and the White House press corps, they continue to set the national agenda. And that means there are some things you just don't write about if you want to remain 'in' with the liberal media." He quoted ABC News political director, Mark Halperin, as saying: "Like every other institution, the Washington and political press corps operate with a good number of biases and...

Not only has the New York Times decided to resurrect the Plame outing as the new and improved Al Qaqaa story (or non-story), but they have shamelessly resorted to spreading misinformation about the entire series of events. Here's a copy of an opinion piece/letter I submitted to The New York Times today. I'll keep you posted as to whether or not I hear anything back. But based on their disdain for dissenters, I won't hold my breath: Dear Editor: The Times' Editorial Page has finally moved beyond the labels of liberally biased and anti-Republican and has flung itself full force...

I've struggled for a long time to explain my views on the War on Terror, and how I feel about illogical terror placaters. In the Credo section of this site, I tried to explain the irrationality behind equating free societies with rogue militants: I do not believe that being open-minded demands prescribing moral equivalence to everything. It is not unfair or bigoted to declare one thing better than the next. As long as context is provided, all things need not be treated equally. For instance: I do not condone murder, but I can reasonably say that it is better for...

I usually read The New York Times Op-Ed page with a crooked smile and one eye shut. But today, I couldn't even believe my one open eye. In a piece titled, "Keeping Ground Zero Free", which would have been more aptly titled, Keeping Ground Zero Progressive and Politically Correct, the Times Editorial Board finally sunk to bedrock-bottom regarding the former World Trade Center, and future Freedom Tower/9-11 Memorial, site. Read for yourself.....

I read a brilliantly simple comparison in the Free Republic forum between the Four Psychological Stages Of The Battered Woman Syndrome and many leftists' reactions and responses to the threat of Islamic terrorism. When I looked at the signs, stages and rationalizations involved, I was amazed at how similarly the methodologies mirrored each other. These stages of rationalization perfectly resemble the fight-or-flight instincts (or lack thereof) that people face in a post-September 11th world. The differences lie in the fact that most Americans bypassed stages 1 and 2 and went directly to 3 or 4. It is specifically the failure...

Justice Sandra Day O'Conner announced her retirement from the United States Supreme Court today. This is the first time since 1994 that there has been a vacancy on the world's most powerful bench. This will also be the first time that bloggers will be able to monitor the mainstream media's portrayal of all of Bush's potential nominees. Every negative innuendo, inaccurate summary and unnecessary label will be documented and exposed. This will be rabid political partisanship at its worst, and will settle once and for all the strength of the Senate filibuster compromise. Knuckles are cracking on both sides of...

I've written about the mainstream media's reaction to the Valerie Plame Outing before in a post titled, Another Mainstream Media Catch 22. In the article, I explained that the press chose a self-destructive, misleading position to take regarding the Joe Wilson/Niger Yellowcake/Valerie Plame story. I suggested that they would have a similar choice to make in the way it handled the Newsweek/Guantanamo/Koran Flushing story. And I suggested that the liberal media would once again choose allegory over concrete truth. I wrote: The mainstream media (MSM) already got caught in a similar Catch-22 regarding the outing of CIA agent (and wife...

One of the most surprising recent rulings by Supreme Court was its split decision in the case of Kelo vs. New London. If you are somehow unaware of the particulars, click here for the entire story. But for our purposes, we'll just hit the high points: Susette Kelo dreamed of owning a home that looked out over the water. She purchased and lovingly restored her little pink house where the Thames River meets the Long Island Sound in 1997, and has enjoyed the great view from its windows ever since. The Dery family, down the street from Susette, has lived...

The furor surrounding Karl Rove's comments to the New York Conservative Party reminds me of the Larry Summers controversy. People who already loathe him, his policies and his success are grasping at everything they can twist and spin to force him to resign - an action they've been seeking for a long time. The mainstream media, which is largely made up of like-minded people, is playing the usual game of irresponsible gotcha-journalism with Rove's remarks. As is typical, Rove is being chided not for lying, but for bucking political correctness. Excerpts of his speech were taken out of context and...

It's time to set the record straight about Kenneth Tomlinson and his role at the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). Ken is under fire for having hired a consultant to assess the political slant of the television and radio stations that receive public funds from CPB. He found that some news shows on PBS & NPR have a liberal tilt, and expressed that opinion and commentary should at least be clarified so that it is not confused with facts. He further enraged supporters of the public broadcasting status quo by endorsing Patricia Harrison, a former co-chair of the Republican National...

This post will serve as a continual log of the ridiculous demands made of Republicans by Democrats, and repeated by their echo chamber - the mainstream media. If you have any examples you would like to add, please feel free to post them in the comments section. When a Democrat is once again in the White House, we'll be able to compare the politicians' and journalists' past and present "fundamental truths" about how a President should work with the opposing party. Let's review some of the more interesting and unusual demands that were depicted as obvious and reasonable by an...

I read the New York Times Op-Ed page every weekday. And every weekday, I start it off by whispering to myself, "Let's see how the sky is falling, and how it's all the Republicans' fault." Bob Herbert, a NYT Op-Ed contributor, reminds me of one of those scantily clad twelve-year-olds who is "totally out of control" each week on The Montel Williams Show. It's not that he struts around showing too much skin, it's that he's so stuck in his own little world that he perfectly mirrors the petulant "wuh-eva!" attitude that oozes from the pre-pubescent strumpets. No matter what...

Any reasonable person must wonder how a moral equivalence can be drawn between one prison on a U.S. military base and a system of Siberian forced-labor camps.....I want to take umbrage at the threats of William Schultz, the head of the U.S. chapter of Amnesty International. An IPS article described the scene: "It is the height of hypocrisy for the U.S. government itself to use the very torture techniques that it routinely condemns in other countries.....When the U.S. government then calls upon foreign leaders to bring to justice those who commit or authorise human rights violations in their own countries,...

My previous post dealt with the reasons why many true liberals have defected from the left. The reasons focused mainly on obstinate and often venomous ideology, and the scorn that such intolerant groups lay on dissenters. Only when the veil of liberal moral superiority has been lifted can these converts (they could argue that it was the liberal left that changed - not them) see how truly bigoted the far left has become. Once on the other side, most liberal defectors describe the invective rained upon them by leftists for daring to challenge progressive policies and liberal groupthink. All who...

It appears that more and more notable people are defecting from the liberal left. To put it more appropriately; the ideology of the liberal left has changed so radically in the last generation that many notable people have opted to stop rationalizing and apologizing for it. Note: I am taking great care to explain that the liberal left has become a symbol for boorish intolerance, not all Democrats in general. I find it irksome when all political patriots describe the opposing party in terms that only apply to the most rabid partisans on the fringe. Not all Democrats march with...

I have a few friends who think that liberal media bias is a conservative myth. They obstinately cling to the explanation that biased people see bias in the news when they're offended by the target of the story. I'm willing to concede that their argument has merit, but it doesn't invalidate the claim that the collective American press is slanted to the left. When I present them with countless examples of skewed reporting, they always retreat to debunking the ridiculous idea of there being a secret journalistic society that coordinates hit pieces and represses news benefitting Republicans. I repeatedly describe...

As the Newsweek mess continued to reverberate, I expected admittedly-partisan magazines and blogs to call for more objective, responsible reporting. However, I was surprised to find that hidden among the typical MSM articles rationalizing the riots as inevitable reactions to detainee abuse and the Bush doctrine, there was some introspection and change taking place in the old media. For Example.....

What to make of the recent controversy caused by Newsweek's May 9th story titled, 'Gitmo: SouthCom Showdown'? Many journalists go into the field because they want to make a difference. I don't see any harm in that, as long as they limit themselves to bringing light to percolating and existing situations. For those journalists who are out to change the world, many can't seem to wait until situations exist. Their moral compass tells them that something is headed in the wrong direction and they take up the cause of preventing it. In their minds, the cause is worthwhile, regardless of...