Limbaugh is slowly dying, like the dinosaur that he is, bit by bit. As sponsors escape, he doesn’t need any help from the FCC. Thus, I disagree with calls that he be fired. Just watching him losing advertisers is a joy in itself – the beginning of the end.
The Komen "reversal": a crushing failure of America's newsrooms
Yesterday I attempted to shed a little light on the PR crisis strategy behind the Komen Foundation’s sudden Planned Parenthood “backtracking.” Contrary to what Komen’s highly-paid PR crisis hacks and gullible headline writers at newsdesks around the nation would ask you to believe, The Susan G. Komen Foundation does NOT promise to fund Planned Parenthood in […]
NASA, American exceptionalism, and me: older, and less viable
Fourth in a series As a child turning teen in the late 1950s, the black-and-white RCA in the living room received only three channels … well, four, but we didn’t watch PBS. So I read. Newspapers, of course (after Dad finished sports and Mom finished news). And books. The library was only two blocks away, […]
News-of-the-World-gate: the empire strikes back
This just keeps getting better and better. Alexander Cockburn is right—this is just like Watergate. The steady drip, drip, drip of bad news. The iconic hate figure, a man who pretty much singlehandedly created a global media empire against very significant odds, which in any other context might be seen as plucky and admirable in […]
Trouble in Murdochland redux
A couple of months ago we noted that things were not going all that well in Murdochland, what with investigations heating up over allegations that phone hacking–that delightful pastime of hacking into someone’s voicemail so you can read and/or hear their messages—was far more pervasive than anyone had guessed. Or, certainly, than Murdoch and his […]
The Fourth four years later: Nothing’s changed
As I predicted four years ago on the Fourth of July, little has changed. This year’s fireworks and barbecues offer only a brief respite from the problems of the nation, how they are worsening, and how those who are supposed to address them remain mere chanters of their respective ideologies. Four years ago, I predicted […]
Dr. Death avoids suicide, chooses natural causes
by Jane Briggs-Bunting Jack Kevorkian (aka Dr. Death) died early Friday in a Michigan hospital from complication of pulmonary thrombosis, not suicide. He was 83. He was frail and failing, weighing around 75 lbs. It was breaking news on Detroit’s local TV stations and within minutes spread to the national media. Physician-assisted suicide’s most prominent […]
If a news story claims knowlege of public opinion, test the claim
When a news story claims certainty in expressing public opinion — or uses sources that claim such — readers should be wary. Such is the case with a Friday NPR story that commingled analysis, reporting, and commentary (without a commentary label) about the impact of “tough economic news” on President Obama’s re-election prospects. Some phrasing […]
An open letter to President Barack Obama: congratulations – now, how will you spend your political capital?
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The American Parliament: our nation's 10 political parties
Part two in a series. Forgive me for abstracting and oversimplifying a bit, but one might argue that American politics breaks along the following 10 lines: Social Conservatives Neocons Business Conservatives Traditional Conservatives (there’s probably a better term, but I’m thinking of old-line Western land and water rights types) Blue Dog Democrats New Democrats Progressives
Conservatives, Progressives and the future of representative democracy: what would an American Parliament look like?
Part one in a series. A little thought experiment for a Monday morning… Over the past few years I have tried to make as much sense as I could out of the American political landscape. By nature, I’m a theoretically minded thinker, and the point of these exercises has been to try and articulate the […]






