Got to keep up the superfical culture of black/white, good/evil, etc., to maintain the level of ignorance of Americans.

G W Bush is not someone out of the ordinary, he is who we are as a people. Ignorant.

Keeping a whole nation ignorant takes a lot of work. The right wing noise machine manufactures slogans and one liners to give our brains something to change the subject from what matters.

They really do a good job to plant in our memories Bill Clinton's haircut on the airstrip.

Is the title of Morris Berman's book copywrite 2006. The empire is on the way down and it is not clear how to stop it.

From pages 213-214

"This kind of sadism always has an odd sexual feeling to it; I couldn't help thinking how the politics of empire had finally rotted the American soul. When a civilization finally hollows itself out, there is nothing much left for it to do except to turn into a case study from a textbook by Wihlem Reich, in which you get off on the cruelty you can visit on the powerless. Disturbingly, this is a lot of the psychology that hovered over the torture or slaughter in Vietnam, during the Gulf war, or at Abu Ghraib. And when a powerful nation can pick fights only with the small and the weak, it is because, appearances to the contrary, it is weak itself."

It is important that this long story be in a print newspaper.

A friend recently heard Michael Powell say that newspapers would be dead in a few years. "the ink gets your hands dirty." (This is a paraphrase - if worthwhile, someone else may be able to find the interview.)

Far too few Americans read. The emphasis on the electronic media is turning the country into dummies, and the dummies continue to support take over by factions. This was the major concern of the founding fathers.

While Glenn's criticisms of the Times are on target, there is something broader going on in our culture. We need a national effort to get people to read so they can learn once again to reason. There can be no democracy without informed citizens.

One is reminded of Al Gore's latest book "The Assault on Reason."

The NYT is loosing money big time. We need to support real journalists and real newspapers who are not just parts of a corporate media.

In an earlier post Jim White said

What I find really depressing

is that when Aaron Brown left CNN, I considered him to have been the last vestige of journalism there. Looking at the evidence here, especially in how he was an apologist for the generals when they clearly were spouting government propaganda, shows that our society has been in a long decline away from the vitality inherent in a truthful discussion of alternative views on subjects of importance. Click my name for a post I did yesterday on Madison's warning in The Federalist No. 10 on the inhibition of the views of factions and how that plays into the story of the Pentagon's sockpuppets.

Comment: Jim, the decline of our republic has been going on longer than I realized. Check out "Dark Ages America" by Morris Berman. He doesn't think the decline can be stopped.

This is the heading of Juan Cole's blog this morning. He posits the recent case of Israeli nuclear spy that may have passed secrets to other governments as well.

Any hunches about what the diversion is?

We can't expect the main stream press to cover an issue this "complex." Not a rational policy discussion of the middle east for our personality and trivia driven media which give to Americans "what they want" just like any other product. No need for Americans to understand our foreign policy and the implications for it to our domestic policy and our economy.

However, the Jewish voters tend to be well informed so columns like Glenn's coupled with strong statements from Obama have the chance of turing this issue into one that is actually heard. Maybe even Al Frankin can use this as a campaign theme as well.

I would not have guessed that the Hillary campaign would be another demonstration of how far the right wing has taken over the government and the public dialogue. Hillary is playing the game of the republicans and we need to change that game if we are going to even have a chance of restoring our republic.

I just donated for the AD against democrats.

Glenn,

Maybe the web wizzards at Salon.com could give you another place to post the blog first - one that simulates the actual post. Then you could read it exactly as it appears here.

After it is edited, you could then post it in the regular spot. That might reduce an error or two.

Keep up the excellent work. The errors in the early postings are no big deal.

Wow!

Lookie at all the trolls here today!

The issue is the media, and these trolls, true to form, play out the right wing play book. Try to change the subject to trivia. Try to get people worked up about the most important issues in the universe - flag pins and Rev. Wright.

They are getting worried about Glenn's insights and the people who follow this page. When Glenn gets quoted in the NYT one has to get worried that the readership might become even wider and fear upon fear, the main stream media might actually start doing a little bit of its job.

I just made up some small sheets of paper which I hand out to people after I talk about politics. Sheets are a link to this page. I tell them that no single place has more insights than Glenn's columns and encourage them to follow it and to get his new book.