Recent Media Commentaries

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Rally to Restore Truthiness
Mark that date in your iPhone calendar, people. Yes, right now! On October 30, 2010 an event of biblical proportions will…change… history! (No, not that Event, that’s on NBC.) I’m talking about an event that’s bigger than Lincoln, yes; bigger than Jefferson, yes; even bigger than Washington, himself! Throughout history, America has witnessed many great Americans coming together in solidarity to support American virtues,...
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September 29, 2010
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“I Have a Big, Fat Mouth”
That’s how Glenn Beck described himself on Fox and Friends (Aug. 29) in his kind-of, sort-of take-back of calling President Obama “a racist,” with “a deep-seated hatred for white people,” on that same program last year. Beck’s trenchant self-analysis comes more than a year later and a day after his evangelistic “Restoring Honor” revival on the steps of the Lincoln...
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September 8, 2010
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The Real Lesson
After a week of sensational claims, a resignation, revelations, apologies, non-apologies, and hype surrounding wrongful allegations of racism against Shirley Sherrod, three points emerge: Point 1. Andrew Breitbart, the faux journalist who broke the story of Sherrod’s faux racism refused to apologize after the truth came out.  While most of the media did a 180, includingFox’s Bill O’Reilly, Breitbart played the...
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July 26, 2010
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Where Do We Go From Here?
It began with words that insult and incite, then quickly escalated to rapid-fire judgments so full of agendas, and self-interest that is was doomed to collapse under the weight of its own hypocrisy. And what was revealed in the end was a lie. “All drama is about lies. When the lie is exposed, the play is over.” That’s David Mamet...
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July 23, 2010
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Now, For Another Important Decision
In a week that has seen The Vapid, where I looked at the media’s obsession with stories more meaningless than meaningful; Stupid, where I talk about the tactless remarks made by Cleveland Cavalier’s owner Dan Gilbert in reaction to LeBron James’ decision to leave the team, followed by the equally irresponsible comments by Rev. Jesse Jackson about Gilbert’s, I thought we needed a little break....
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July 16, 2010
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The Vapid, the Vacuous and the Inspired
I don’t know if it was the heat or humidity covering much of the East Coast, but last week the media continued its pursuit of stories that have little or no meaningful substance. Last Tuesday, a Los Angeles judge sentenced Lindsay Lohan to 90 days in jail after the actress violated terms of her probation – certainly worthy of a...
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July 12, 2010
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What BP Did Wrong
“I don’t know how else to say it. All the things that they told us could never happen happened.” That’s what Mike Williams, the chief electronics technician on-board British Petroleum’s Deepwater Horizon told reporter Scott Pelley last month on 60 Minutes. “The tension in every drilling operation,” Pelley reports “is between doing things safely and doing them fast; time is money…” “We were informed...
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June 4, 2010
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It’s the Media, Stupid!
“Just because the microphone in front of you amplifies your voice around the world is no reason to think we have any more wisdom than we had when our voices could reach only from one end of the bar to the other.” —Edward R. Murrow During the pioneering days of broadcast journalism, Ed Murrow was the gold standard of journalists. Known...
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May 7, 2010
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Maher vs. Stewart
HBO and Comedy Central are missing a Golden Opportunity. Rather than pair boxing champ Floyd Mayweather against… whoever’s left, they should match political, social satirist Jon Stewart against social, political satirist-commentator Bill Maher. Billed as The Grumble in the Jungle (hey, it’s marketing), it just might score major pay-per-view dollars. Let’s look at the stats – Maher ranks 38th on Comedy Central’s list...
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May 3, 2010
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Still Riding High
No, those aren’t the Cartwrights and we’re not on the Ponderosa. This is what I wrote concerning Honesty and Trust in America on March 28, 2008: When it comes to corruption, the Four Horsemen of the Ethical Apocalypse remain:  Money, Power, Influence and Arrogance. In a 2006 survey that I conducted with Zogby International and the Center for Cultural Studies and Analysis,  » Read more about: Still Riding High...
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April 23, 2010

Read Some of the Most Recent Articles
The Latest... And Often Greatest
It Was Important Then. It is Important Today
Freedom of speech in America is under attack, not only when people are denied the right to speak, but when lies, intimidation and the deliberate...
When Political Identity Replaces Ethical Judgment
The political and cultural landscape has become a minefield of conflicting beliefs, many now rooted less in public policy than in personal identity. One of...
Principles Matter.
A few nights ago, I was watching The Way We Were, a film I’ve seen more times than I can count. This time, a single...
All the President’s Men 2.0
“Politics had infiltrated every corner of government—a strong-arm takeover of the agencies by the Nixon White House.” —Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, All the President’s...
The Threat to November Is Already Here
“Cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government.”—George Washington’s...
Jon Ossoff and the Conscience of Atticus Finch
I’ve written about Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff before, but after watching his questioning of Jay Clayton, President Trump’s nominee for director of national intelligence (DNI),...