Letters to the Editor
jonwash
Published Letters: 10
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Thank you
[Read the article: Response from ABC News re: the Saddam-anthrax reports]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I am a recent reader of your articles and I must say you are truly remarkable. Thanks for doing what you do and taking the time to really explain and teach about the principles of credibility. Thanks for holding the media accountable not in a partisan way but in a way to make them understand the role they play in this thing called Democracy!!
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what the public cares about is an "everlasting mystery."
[Read the article: The Politico: Exhibit A for our broken political press]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]So says the Washington Post!!!
Here is an example of the state of mind of those given the task of politcial reporting. This from the online discussion today conducted by Reporter Michael Shear of the Washington Post.
Arlington, Va.: Michael, thanks for your response and I wanted to follow up. You claim that what the public cares about is an "everlasting mystery." In fact, I don't think it's much of a mystery. As far as I know, there is no polling data that illustrates that the public cares about Edwards's hair or whether Barack and Hillary can get along. In fact, polls consistently illustrate what the public's top priorities are (Iraq, health care, immigration, education, etc...) so why spend any time on the other nonsense?
Michael D. Shear: I don't want to get into a running debate, here, but this is an important issue.
The question of whether the $400 Edwards haircut is important to Americans depends, I would think, on whether people believe it becomes a symbol for something else. American politics is littered with examples of little things becoming big things. (Remember the picture of Mike Dukakis in the tank? Not a big deal, but it became a symbol of his awkwardness and his lack of foreign policy experience). Could the haircut become a symbol of his disconnectedness to the "little guy"? Maybe. If so, it's important. If not, then it's not.
Who is affected most by such symbols...the people or the press?
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Special Report Political Grapevine
[Read the article: Brit Hume is a "journalist"; Keith Olbermann is "partisan"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Brit Hume Is Fair on Special Report.
I think Brit Hume is fair. Brit rarely goes on these attacks on his show Special Report.
Have you ever watched his Grapevine segment on his show. I challenged you to watch it for just one week and tell me you don't get a sense of Mr Hume's bias.
That said one of the things about KO's show that I wished he would do is bring on people who might be known as representatives on "the other side".
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This is not about Libby
[Read the article: Richard Cohen's brilliant (and unintentional) exposé of our media]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]This from his chat today on WAPO
, I'll say that the ability of the press to ferret out information and use anonymous sources and to guarauntee to those sources that they'll remain convidential has been shredded by this case. Reporter after reporter was compelled to give up their sources. This has been a very bad case for the American press and for the American public and it's all about nothing.
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I think this gets to the heart of what is eating many in the MSM about this case. It is not about any love lost for Mr Libby....it was the exposure of them and their methods that is at the heart of why they have such disdain for Mr Fitzgerald and this case. It is all personal.
One other point I am amazed at how so many often say this turned out to be about nothing when we don't know what we don't know because of obstruction by Mr Libby and others.
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YAAWN
[Read the article: Our broken political discourse]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"Shailagh Murray: YAAWWN. That's my view of the Libby flap. What on earth did people expect Bush to do?"
They just do not get it.....it is not what we expect the President to do....in fact he has done what he believes is right. And yes he is the decider.....but that is not the end of the story and for Ms Murray to make it seem like others should abdicate their responsiblities, namely Congress and the press and even the American people, is sad.
This is not about what Mr Bush's authority is....it is about the on going cover-up and unanswered questions about this administration as it relates to this case. I for one want to know if they people at the head of my government are truth tellers or if they are believers in the ends justifying the means kind of people. There is a simple question that Mr Libby should have to answer....why did he choose to lie? It has been established that he lied...not just forgot....so why did he do it? The incentive for him to answer that question has been taken away.