In the UK the press has a long and glorious history of each paper being the one great truth to its readership. You have the Times, and you have the Guardian. And right up there on the Guardian's masthead is a long diatribe about socialism, the worker's rights blah blah blah. I doubt they even consider themselves a news organ anymore and self label themselves as a vanguard of opinion. You know when you open the Times or the Guardian or the Independent what you're going to get. Same thing in France or Italy with their famous Communist newspapers. There is no news anymore there hasn't been for a very long time. There are only certain fact-like attributes spun in such a way to support wholeheartedly the official line, whatever it is. And the readership is thrilled with it.

I think the big hole in Sunstein's assertion is not that it's real or apparent but that by implication the Internet was going to erase this hardcore self reinforcing narrowminded bias. Do we imagine that the collective readership of Salon would materially change were there no Salon? They'd still hold the same beliefs. What the internet does is allow everyone to grouse about it to a bunch of people who all feel the same way. It's like a 12-Step program without the happiness or hope.

If owned any Prince CD's, I would burn them.

Didn't you get the memo? Salon is a blog of 5 or 6 people who crank one article after another about what silly silly evil stupid failure the current administration is. That's all. I noted yesterday that 80,000 people churned out in Caracas to protest The Great Savior Jesus Marx Hugo Chavez takeover of ALL political power and at least one person was killed after crowds were fired on by 'unamed persons'. But you won't read about that here either? You no toucha da sacred cows.

In fact, you get more actual news from Daily Kos now. But you have to take the bad with the good, because those tools are retarded AND insane.

A distintegrating country filled with Muslim fanatics and an exploding population has atomic weapons. That can only work out for the best. You call it dangerous anarchy, I call it a role model.

To protest Chavez's unchecked hold on absolute power. 8 people shot, one dead. Well it's not Pakistan or Burma so you won't hear more than a peep about that here. I guess tyranny is whatever latte sucking losers in the west choose to call it.

They're not perfect. There are risks. I really wish you folks would stop excoriating everyone for every statistically identifiable risk attendant with mucking with the fundamental hormones of the human body. I'm left scratching my head what you think an acceptable outcome would be? Zero risk? Zero cost? Flowers and unicorns and new shoes for everyone? There's a 1% chance you'll get polio from a polio vaccination. A little perspective please.

Well not me. You all can drown. I've done enough, and if that's not enough then tough. Go fail gloriously. My passport is current. An American can still live pretty well in some foreign countries even with a cheap dollar. Just learn to speak Spanish or Portuguese.

That 80,000 people boiled out into the streets to violently protest The Dear Leader. I thought it was paradise there where everyone gets a free house, a computer, lives forever and is young and beautiful. I mean what with being the Benificent Overlord for Life, El Presidente how could anyone be upset? It must be a lie perpetrated by those dastardly neocons and their Mossad masters.

BTW when you see Hugo, ask him when he's going to pay that 500 million dollar electric bill to Brazil. They're getting a little angry what with oil at $100/bbl that El Hugo keeps blowing them off. Nobody likes a Marxist Dictator Deadbeat you know.

Which tyrants you love and which ones you hate is all. I mean how the hell am I supposed to know which t-shirts to buy? I come to Salon and hear about the peaceful peaceloving people of peace of Iran and Venezuela. Did you know for example that the mass executions of Khomeni's opponents warrants it's own Wikipedia entry? And yet we are routinely exhorted to ignore it. Did you know that Chavez closed the press, TV and media that was critical of him, declared himself president for life and rules now by decree without Parliament, which he dissolved. And yet were one to get their news from Salon you'd think he's the greatest man of Freedom and Democracy since the ancient Athenians, Marx and Jesus combined.

Which I have no problem with. It's a brand you like. Musharraf bad, neo Communists good. Ok, I get it. But let's not suppose there's any thought or logic or reason behind that. It's just whatever sign or paper mache puppet you saw last on the quad.

Regardless of who is elected President next year. It could be Hillary it could be anyone, makes no which never mind. I just want to point that out in case you were dreaming that come Jan 09 we're going to fly every airliner we've got over there ang bug out. Because that's not happening. Staying in Iraq has little to do with Iraq. It has a great deal more with the regional geopolitics. So come the end of 2011 when Iran announces it has successfully tested an atomic weapon and can demonstrate it can stick it on an IRBM and send it somewhere, THAT's when we'll leave Iraq and reach a detente with Iran to control all or most of the Persian Gulf region. At this point, they will figure out a way economically to strangle us with oil and the US starts to implode. $9/gal gas, food shortages, riots, the whole shebang. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I'll move to Gibraltar or Uruguay or France. No biggie.