Letters to the Editor
Fraud Guy
Published Letters: 337
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Presumptuous Insect
[Read the article: Richard Cohen's brilliant (and unintentional) exposé of our media]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I am not sure what they are teaching in the journalism schools, but in practice, the fresh new reporters I have encountered are following the same tradecraft:
- State issue (as framed by authority)
- State rebuttal (be dismissive if possible, or vague on valid points, and frame them in context of authority's statement)
- Post authority's response in detail to close argument.
I ran into this on a local zoning dispute, and three of four local papers followed this line perfectly, two with reporters so recently minted I don't think they were paying on their student loans yet. Only when I wrote the editors explaining how this presentation was biased, copying all of the other local papers, did the tone change from pro authority to grudgingly neutral (even though they still couldn't fathom why people would oppose the project).
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Real Name
[Read the article: Richard Cohen's brilliant (and unintentional) exposé of our media]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]That's funny, I thought the fourth graders were the ones talking about their daddy's aqua velva and talking about who they were going to beat up after school.
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Parallelism
[Read the article: What "truly motivates" George W. Bush?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I am currently rereading The March of Folly by Barbara Tuchman, and the following passage struck me (regarding the British lords who ran their American policy into the ground in the run up to the American Revolution):
Consciousness of their inadequacy for the work of government commonly afflicted the noble lords who filled the offices, not least when rank was their only qualification.
Just one of many parallels between the previous King George and his administration and the current one that are contained in this pre 9/11 book (la plus ca change).
I agree that our current maladministration is truly unable to examine themselves, otherwise they would recognize their blatant inadequacies. Not only is the unexamined life not worth living*, but he who does not remember the past is doomed to repeat it**. This discussion is necessary before we doom ourselves.
*Socrates
**Santayana
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healthyskeptic
[Read the article: "Fringe liberal bloggers"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It goes back to the speck and beam argument. If there are a few fringe liberal bloggers spoiling the barrel, why don't the conservatives worry about the complete panopticon of radical raving conservative bloggers at sites like LittleGreenFootballs (or even the impolite narcissist from UWM Law School)? I have visited there only a few times, and the lack of civil and/or rational discourse is profound.
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unhealthyskeptic
[Read the article: "Fringe liberal bloggers"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You know, I have never seen healthyskeptic and Charles007 post in the same blog at the same time.....
Anyway, I think that we should support those who need to be supported, shut down those who are too fringe and radical, and speak to the center to prevent them from taking over, because action is important, and we need to have a substantive discussion here.
Sorry, couldn't resist.