A well known old trick is to attack a group, say Jews, and then when violence against them starts, the level of outrage is reduced, or non existent.

That is what these people are doing. Creating the climate that it is OK to do violence against Muslims in this country, or even a worse group, LIBERALS.

The justice department firing of prosecutors has made it to the main stream news and the Democrats are pushing the issue as well. I doubt this story will reach MSM. Kieth Olberman might pick it up.

In the second to last paragraph Glenn used the word "faction." This was something the framers were extremely worried about - the take over by a special interest group that would try to overturn the rule of law.

The founding fathers warned over and over again about factions. This was before political parties. The Republican party is a faction.

How soon will it be until we have a constitutional crisis in this country? It might be very soon if the administration refuses to let people testify to congress which is a clear violation of separation of powers.

Thank you to Glenn and every one writing in on this blog. During this time of constutional crisis, excellent minds are engaged in raising the right issues and trying to figure out ways to restore our American way of life.

The trolls are few here and are totally destroyed by reason.

Looking forward to Gore's new book out in May titled The Assault on Reason.

Thanks for the excellent article Joe.

So many things are comming out now that it might be possible to hold the administration accountable for all manner of crimes including crimes against the constitution.

When is the White House press corps going to start laughing out loud at the repeated lies?

Glenn,

Thank you for the insightful postings on the corruption of the media.

I live in Columbus Ohio and there used to be an Air America and Jones Network shows that ran on a Clear Channel station. It was cancelled. We now have 5 conservative talk shows in this area and NO liberal shows.

In fact, there is only one Air America station in Ohio and it is in Akron.

Could it be that the Rethugs are getting ready for 2008 election and they don't want alternative media on the radio?

When I attended an FCC hearing about media concentration in Columbus two weeks ago, a couple of people said that they tried to buy ads but were turned down. One was an ad for an educational session on the new voting proceedures which were put in place right before the election to help steal the election. They wanted to educate poll workers.

Republican congressmen have said that they got more respect from Clinton that they get from their own party with George Bush.

As more and more criminal behavior comes out about the White House, where will their support be in Congreaa?

A number of years ago, a good friend was a reporter at what was the largest paper in Anchorage, Alaska. The paper was purchased by a corporate media company and all the managers went off to school.

They came back with corporate crap like everyone can apply for anyone's job. This resulted in lowering of standards and they also rearranged desks so reporters could spy on each other.

Within 2 years the paper folded.

I see this as destruction of an institution which is essential for our democracy. This isn't just corporate greed, although the management practices described above are used to terrible results in many places. This is a planned destruction of the independent media in the USA.

Glenn,

You could write a whole column on the worry of the framers of the constitution about factions. That was long before political parties.

The "republican party" is a faction by the definitions in the federalist papers.

The republican faction is a constitutional crisis.

In the late 1980's and into early 1990's, an effort was begun to construct a set of software engineering standards for industry. Most of the people were volunteers doing a lot of work on their own time, but also supported by their employers.

What they sold was a process. "The draft standard was reviewed and passed, therefore it is OK." When representatives discussed the standards at conferences, people would ask specific questions. And claim that it doesn't work in particular situations. The answer was always, "it reviewed and passed."

This is the argument by ABC news. "The article was voted on and passed, and reviewed by out esteemed internal crew, therefore it is proper/good/true, or whatever."

When people ask for the argument structure and data, they are told that "it passed our process, therefore it is OK." "Trust us."

When told that the media is no longer relevant, they say "it passed the process and is OK."

But silly me, I thought that the media plays an essential role in our society which is why they have an important place from the founders. And along with goes the responsibility of truth.

Juan Cole's blog is the first thing I read each morning. Juan Cole is a middle east history professor at Univ of Michigan and he posts a daily blog. One joke is that the CIA can quit and just read his blog.

He has an interesting piece today on Nancy Pelosi's visit.

http://www.juancole.com/2007/04/israel-vs.html

His blog is

http://www.juancole.com

This is the subtitle of Hannah Arendt's book "Eichmann in Jerusaleum" where she describes the life of a bureaucrat who did bad stuff.

Glenn uses this word toward the end of his article describing how reporters have strayed from doing the hard work to get a story correct and become ambulance chasers looking for the gory detail that catches on.

Another example of making political dialogue trival.

Could this be part of an effort to build support for an attack on Iran to change the subject here at home? Another wag the dog moment?