Global
AUSTIN, Texas -- Well, things do seem to be going to hell, don't
they? The beauty of having fled to Mexico for a week to escape the endless
blat of television news is that it leaves you with enough energy to tackle
the subject of the Middle East -- if not with cheer, at least with hope.
And that does appear to be the missing ingredient here -- the expectation that anything at all can be done about the situation. Of course it can. The Israelis and the Palestinians are not condemned to some eternal hell where they have to kill each other forever. There is no military solution, but there is a political solution -- and they will get there. The United States is obliged to broker the deal because there's no one else to do it.
And that does appear to be the missing ingredient here -- the expectation that anything at all can be done about the situation. Of course it can. The Israelis and the Palestinians are not condemned to some eternal hell where they have to kill each other forever. There is no military solution, but there is a political solution -- and they will get there. The United States is obliged to broker the deal because there's no one else to do it.
For those eagerly awaiting the uproar from this writer on the
unspeakable assaults on Palestinians on the West Bank, the carnage in the
camps and the siege of the Holy Church of the Nativity by Sharon's troops, a
word of warning: This column contains reflections on barbecue, a subject
that arouses even more passion than matters affecting the peoples of what
used to be termed The Holy Land, so parental discretion is advised. Onward.
Greer, S.C.: On the road again. This time the vehicle of choice is a 1985 Ford Escort station wagon. Nothing much to look at, but in the mid-1980s, Ford put 4-cylinder Japanese diesel engines into a few of those Escorts, and this is one of them: 50 or 60 miles to the gallon, tight gears and the feel of a sports car. I head off down the road from Greenville S.C., towards Birmingham, Ala., and my cell phone rings. It's a fellow from the New Republic who is eager to quiz me about some recent remarks of mine about the Internet being awash with anti-Israeli material.
Greer, S.C.: On the road again. This time the vehicle of choice is a 1985 Ford Escort station wagon. Nothing much to look at, but in the mid-1980s, Ford put 4-cylinder Japanese diesel engines into a few of those Escorts, and this is one of them: 50 or 60 miles to the gallon, tight gears and the feel of a sports car. I head off down the road from Greenville S.C., towards Birmingham, Ala., and my cell phone rings. It's a fellow from the New Republic who is eager to quiz me about some recent remarks of mine about the Internet being awash with anti-Israeli material.
In times of crisis, many policymakers and journalists pay special
attention to the editorializing from America's most influential papers.
The spin of news coverage and the mix of individual opinion pieces
usually indicate the outlooks of the media establishment, but the
editorials by powerhouse newspapers convey more direct messages.
The spin of news coverage and the mix of individual opinion pieces usually indicate the outlooks of the media establishment, but the editorials by powerhouse newspapers convey more direct messages.
With carnage a daily reality in Israel and the West Bank, some editorials have been entirely predictable. The Wall Street Journal, true to ideological form, applauds Israel's iron fist and urges the White House to stand firm behind Israeli leaders. In contrast, more refined Washington Post and New York Times editorials tell us a lot about common U.S. media reactions.
The spin of news coverage and the mix of individual opinion pieces usually indicate the outlooks of the media establishment, but the editorials by powerhouse newspapers convey more direct messages.
With carnage a daily reality in Israel and the West Bank, some editorials have been entirely predictable. The Wall Street Journal, true to ideological form, applauds Israel's iron fist and urges the White House to stand firm behind Israeli leaders. In contrast, more refined Washington Post and New York Times editorials tell us a lot about common U.S. media reactions.
AUSTIN, Texas -- The evidence just keeps stacking up that this
administration intends to turn the entire country into a giant Texas. The
hallmarks of Bush's governorship are everywhere, being reenacted on a
grander scale in Washington, D.C. The favors and services for big
corporations, ludicrously obvious pro-polluter policies advertised as
something else, the occasional bone thrown to the right-wing and, above all,
tax cuts that leave the government unable to carry out even its most basic
obligations. Foreign policy is the only new element in the mix.
-- Bush offers something called the Clear Skies Initiative, arguing it would reduce pollution "better and faster" than the Clean Air Act now in effect. But the Energy Department already did a study in 2000 analyzing various enforcement strategies and concluded the approach wouldn't even work as well as what we already have, a law that the administration is very busily NOT enforcing.
-- Bush offers something called the Clear Skies Initiative, arguing it would reduce pollution "better and faster" than the Clean Air Act now in effect. But the Energy Department already did a study in 2000 analyzing various enforcement strategies and concluded the approach wouldn't even work as well as what we already have, a law that the administration is very busily NOT enforcing.
Here we are, 20 years on, and many of the reports of what's been
happening as the Israeli army smashes its way through Ramallah, Bethlehem
and the other Palestinian towns reminds me of what came out of Lebanon in
1982 as Sharon and his invading army raced north: Israeli troops beating,
looting, destroying; Palestinian families huddling in refugee camps, waiting
for the killers to come.
But there is a difference. A huge one. Twenty years ago, at least for people living here in the United States, it was harder -- though far from impossible -- to get firsthand accounts of what was going on. You had to run out to find foreign newspapers, or have them laboriously faxed from London or Paris. Reporting in the mainstream corporate press here was horrifying tilted into putting the best face on Israeli deeds. Mostly, it still is. But the attempted news blackout by the Sharon government and the Israeli military simply isn't working.
But there is a difference. A huge one. Twenty years ago, at least for people living here in the United States, it was harder -- though far from impossible -- to get firsthand accounts of what was going on. You had to run out to find foreign newspapers, or have them laboriously faxed from London or Paris. Reporting in the mainstream corporate press here was horrifying tilted into putting the best face on Israeli deeds. Mostly, it still is. But the attempted news blackout by the Sharon government and the Israeli military simply isn't working.
The Committee to Protect Journalists released a bleak report the
other day. "Attacks on the Press in 2001" is a thick document with
details about media suppression in much of the world. While American
readers may feel very fortunate, they have no good reason to be smug.
Last year, the report says, 37 journalists were killed because of their work. Many more were jailed or physically attacked. In some countries the jeopardy is primarily legal; elsewhere the main dangers are assault and murder. But -- one way or another -- journalistic pursuit of truth can bring grim consequences.
Worldwide, the picture is largely dismal. But also inspiring. Despite serious and ever-present hazards in numerous countries, a lot of journalists keep setting aside fear to do their jobs with integrity.
Last year, the report says, 37 journalists were killed because of their work. Many more were jailed or physically attacked. In some countries the jeopardy is primarily legal; elsewhere the main dangers are assault and murder. But -- one way or another -- journalistic pursuit of truth can bring grim consequences.
Worldwide, the picture is largely dismal. But also inspiring. Despite serious and ever-present hazards in numerous countries, a lot of journalists keep setting aside fear to do their jobs with integrity.
The ripe tones of Cardinal Mahoney of Los Angeles filled my
house Tuesday morning, courtesy of NPR. Mahoney spoke of his horror, his
shame at the stories of priest abuse. He apologized to the victims. The
mellifluous sanctimony of his penitence filled the room with such solemn
anguish that I burst out laughing. What a surprise it all is! Priests
hitting on altar boys! Priests molesting children. We're shocked, shocked!
When Winston Churchill was in charge of the British navy early in the last century, he proposed some reform, and an elderly admiral protested that this was "against all the traditions of the Navy." "And what are the traditions of the Navy?" Churchill smartly replied, "Rum, sodomy and the lash." With the Church we can maybe exclude the rum, and, for the lash, substitute contrition and forgiveness.
When Winston Churchill was in charge of the British navy early in the last century, he proposed some reform, and an elderly admiral protested that this was "against all the traditions of the Navy." "And what are the traditions of the Navy?" Churchill smartly replied, "Rum, sodomy and the lash." With the Church we can maybe exclude the rum, and, for the lash, substitute contrition and forgiveness.
Call it the year of the yellow notepad. Doris Kearns Goodwin,
ejected from Parnassus, from Pulitzer jury service and kindred honorable
obligations, sinks under charges of plagiarism consequent, she claims, upon
sloppy note-taking on her trusty yellow legal pads.
Michael Bellesiles, taking heavy artillery fire for knavish scholarship in his book "Arming America," says that his notations from probate records central to his assertions about gun ownership in eighteenth-century America were on legal yellow pads that were irreparably damaged when his office at Emory sustained an inundation in 2000, the year his book was published. Connoisseurs of such sports of nature or of plumbing may note that, unusually, this particular flood came in May rather than mid-April, when people have completed their tax returns and are trying to clean out the Augean stables of their accounting.
Michael Bellesiles, taking heavy artillery fire for knavish scholarship in his book "Arming America," says that his notations from probate records central to his assertions about gun ownership in eighteenth-century America were on legal yellow pads that were irreparably damaged when his office at Emory sustained an inundation in 2000, the year his book was published. Connoisseurs of such sports of nature or of plumbing may note that, unusually, this particular flood came in May rather than mid-April, when people have completed their tax returns and are trying to clean out the Augean stables of their accounting.
AUSTIN, Texas -- Have you noticed that the health-care system is
not working? In fact, it's falling apart. And the most curious thing about
that is how few of the people for whom the system still works -- and they're
the ones who make the decisions --- are aware of it.
It's like the old story about frogs and hot water. If you drop a frog into boiling water, it will leap to get out, but if you drop a frog in cool water and then gradually heat it up, the beast doesn't notice. Or so they say. Another factor is the now-constant cognitive dissonance we have in this country as a result of the ever-widening gap between most people and the people who run things. If you have health insurance, the system is a pain in the behind but it works. If you don't have health insurance, you are flat out of luck. And in case you hadn't noticed, more and more employers are deciding not to offer health insurance, or using "temporary" workers or out-sourcing various tasks so they won't have to cover the workers.
It's like the old story about frogs and hot water. If you drop a frog into boiling water, it will leap to get out, but if you drop a frog in cool water and then gradually heat it up, the beast doesn't notice. Or so they say. Another factor is the now-constant cognitive dissonance we have in this country as a result of the ever-widening gap between most people and the people who run things. If you have health insurance, the system is a pain in the behind but it works. If you don't have health insurance, you are flat out of luck. And in case you hadn't noticed, more and more employers are deciding not to offer health insurance, or using "temporary" workers or out-sourcing various tasks so they won't have to cover the workers.
You've probably heard a lot of spooky tales about "the liberal
media."
Ever since Vice President Spiro Agnew denounced news outlets that were offending the Nixon administration in the autumn of 1969, the specter has been much more often cited than sighted. "The liberal media" is largely an apparition -- but the epithet serves as an effective weapon, brandished against journalists who might confront social inequities and imbalances of power.
During the last few months, former CBS correspondent Bernard Goldberg's new book "Bias" has stoked the "liberal media" canard. His anecdote-filled book continues to benefit from enormous media exposure.
In interviews on major networks, Goldberg has emphasized his book's charge that American media outlets are typically in step with the biased practices he noticed at CBS News -- where "we pointedly identified conservatives as conservatives, for example, but for some crazy reason didn't bother to identify liberals as liberals."
Ever since Vice President Spiro Agnew denounced news outlets that were offending the Nixon administration in the autumn of 1969, the specter has been much more often cited than sighted. "The liberal media" is largely an apparition -- but the epithet serves as an effective weapon, brandished against journalists who might confront social inequities and imbalances of power.
During the last few months, former CBS correspondent Bernard Goldberg's new book "Bias" has stoked the "liberal media" canard. His anecdote-filled book continues to benefit from enormous media exposure.
In interviews on major networks, Goldberg has emphasized his book's charge that American media outlets are typically in step with the biased practices he noticed at CBS News -- where "we pointedly identified conservatives as conservatives, for example, but for some crazy reason didn't bother to identify liberals as liberals."