But is America an "empire"? I'm sure it makes some people feel good to think so, either as a source of pride or a means of criticism. But we don't actually conquer territory anymore (again, leaving the whole Iraq quagmire to the side). We pick sides in other regions' affairs, form (often disasterous) alliances, egregiously interfere, even invade and occupy, but we don't annex, at least not since we filled our apparent continental quota of 50 states. Officially, we don't covet our neighbor's landmass.

I would argue that we annex resources, or at the very least, access to them. No real question about that. And IMHO, the meaning of the word "empire" today has changed, at least in the minds of US leadership and the corporatocracy. It has become much more personal, involving the enrichment of particular industries and individuals within those industries, as well as political leaders who allow it to happen. The empire being created today is of massive wealth and power, concentrated ever-more precisely within a very small circle.

One only needs to ask "Who directly benefits from this" to see it.

Glenn, I think it is high time you create an ongoing spotlight of this kind of journalistic lovefest and lack of integrity by creating your own "Top Ten" list of reporters who most embody everything a journalist should not be. I suggest this list be compiled on a quarterly basis, with a bullet point for each "winner" on the list briefly describing their latest example of incestuous behavior or willingness to be a tool of the gov't.

To do so would not be difficult, and I would think such a list would be picked up by other blogs, progressive sites, and media critics, further illuminating these poor and subservient excuses for journalists.

Also, and I would argue just as importantly, it would also be well worth reading to see a Top Ten list of journalists who you think are doing a good job in their reporting. A contrast of these lists would make crystal clear the differences (and how vast they really are) between good reporting, and reporting which only serves to propagandize the citizenry.

I for one would spread this list around to everyone I know in an effort to wake people up to the media stars who are the worst of the worst and don't merit even a first glance or read.

hehehe.

Forgive my awful grammar, all you word cops....;-))))

I'm wondering if you ever thought of being part of a think tank or even a university center (I think NYU has a communications/media center) that could put your work out more forcefully. Even good books are published so far after the fact that they lose a lot of their steam. But we need a major effort to deconstruct the MSM, show the effects of their biased reporting and hold journalists accountable--take away this cloak of being in some kind of private club and not being called on anything. Don't know how this would play out exactly...just thinking out loud. --Mikeyfil

I'm in total agreement, and believe our efforts need to concentrate more energy on outing and discrediting these cretin enablers. I will continue to harp on this, because Americans will never wake up and find a way to take their gov't back until they see that they are being fed nothing but bullshit that is designed to keep them fighting over distractions while their country is slowly ripped out from under their feet.

...that the Obama campaign should be delving with gusto and vigor into the whole issue of McCain dumping his disfigured first wife and running into the arms of his rich, younger mistress. How much more pond scum can there be on someone than that?

The problem, my friends, isn't the dishonest charlatans of the right, nor the weak-kneed apologists and enablers of the left. The problem is that nearly half of those who will vote in November are dumber than a sack of dirt. --JimPharo

Amen to that, brother! Which is yet another reason why I believe our efforts should be focused on outing the complicit media and showing the public their favorite news readers and stenographers are one of the main reasons this country is where it is. Even dumb sacks of dirt watch the news sometimes.

Defeating "bad" Democrats is a worthy cause, but if we want to change hearts and minds, LOTS of them, about what is really going on in this country, we have to wake them up. One way to do that is to tear down those they perceive as trustworthy.

It is high time the O/B team infuse some passion and some facts into their rhetoric. Talk about the soaring national debt, record deficits, amounts of tax money being diverted to a useless war, 50 million left without health insurance (me being one of them).

Get some facts, and get pissed, and demand that the republican counterparts answer your charges, and don't back down until you do. Someone put that goddamn video of Campbell Brown in front of the Dems and repeat it ad nauseum.

Geezus K. Rist, how much easier can it be??