THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2023Resembles the revised Fox News: We weren't familiar with Ken Bensinger's work until this very morning.This morning, he authors a fascinating, though depressing, front-page report in the New York Times. We've already quoted the headline which appears in … | Continue reading
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2023Who is Elise Stefanik? Without any question, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) turned out to be the break-out star of last Tuesday's show. With that unquestionable fact in mind, it's interesting to note how long the show had dragged on before the angry congres … | Continue reading
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2023Fox News [HEART] Viktor Shokin: Within the modern context, what does it mean to live in a Babel?Consider what happened on Fox & Friends this very morning. First, though, consider what happened on Fox Report with Jon Scott this past Sunday night.Fox Rep … | Continue reading
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2023So did Maureen Dowd: Perhaps understandably, the New York Times played a bit of catch-up last week as it struggled to report the events of Tuesday, December 5.We refer to the December 5 congressional hearing in which three university presidents were as … | Continue reading
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2023We'd call it a song sung blue: For students of the American discourse—for students of the American project—last Tuesday's hearing with the three college presidents was a series of songs sung blue.For students of the American discourse, it was also a chan … | Continue reading
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2023Schedule update: We won't be able to post this morning. Please check back this afternoon! | Continue reading
MONDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2023Here's where the story starts: What does it mean to live in a "Babel?" According to the leading authority on the topic, here's where the well-known locution got its start:Tower of Babel The Tower of Babel narrative in Genesis 11:1–9 is an origin myth and … | Continue reading
MONDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2023Our blue tribe bungles and fails: In fairness to the college presidents, maybe they should have fled the room in the first few minutes of last Tuesday's hearing.The disastrous hearing was held by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. The com … | Continue reading
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2023Dearest friends, what is a Babel? On this overcast Saturday morning, C-Span's Washington Journal began as we guessed it would. The program began with an hour-long, call-in discussion of the (very important) question now driving the nation's public discou … | Continue reading
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2023Here's what Scarborough said: We're pleased to report the following:This very day, on Morning Joe, we saw Mika Brzezinski engage in some very solid questioning about a very serious topic.It may have helped that her red-faced husband was absent today. Based … | Continue reading
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2023Which hours have we already seen? This very morning, Mark Leibovich appeared on Morning Joe to discuss his new essay in a special edition of The Atlantic.How weak are the conceptual tools of our blue tribe's journalistic elites? Below, you see the pair of … | Continue reading
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2023Also, a painful profile: We'll start with a pair of questions we asked in yesterday's post. With renewed apologies for the need to ask, our questions went like this:Have people on the Harvard campus been "calling for the genocide of the Jewish people?"If … | Continue reading
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2023Was AWOL on Fox & Friends: In yesterday morning's print editions, the news report appeared on the paper's front page.The newspaper was the New York Times. Online, the front-page report starts like this, principal headline included:Tuberville Drops Blocka … | Continue reading
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2023Performative minds don't want to know: Once again, we were stunned today by several discussions we watched on Morning Joe. Because the conversations in question dealt with very serious topics, we're going to wait a day before we comment in any detail. H … | Continue reading
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2023...wasn't mentioned on Fox at all: Last Friday morning, then on through the day, millions of American citizens tuned in to the various programs which constitute the current form of our "cable news" landscape.Should those citizens have been told? Should … | Continue reading
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2023The topic is deeply important: How should Israel be responding to the massacres of October 7?We can't exactly answer that question. It takes us outside our experience, our background, our depth.Also this:Is Israel violating international humanitarian law … | Continue reading
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2023Red viewers, not so much: Last Friday morning, in print editions, the news report topped the front page of the New York Times.It ran beneath a double headline in the upper-right hand corner of that page. The headlines in question said this:ISRAELIS SAW PL … | Continue reading
MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2023The dogs which continue to bark: It's long been known that you can't fit a square peg in a round hole—or at least that you can't fit it snugly.Something else is fairly obvious. You can't fit five (5) "Power Five" champions into a four-team playoff. As in m … | Continue reading
MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2023Taking a good look around: Last Thursday, MSNBC announced that Mehdi Hasan's weekend show was getting canceled. We don't know why the show got canceled. Neither does Kevin Drum, as he noted in this post:Why was Mehdi Hasan canceled?MSNBC canceled Mehdi Has … | Continue reading
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2023Then, reality bit: On this very special weekend, let's talk college football. Also, let's discuss the kinds of ways we humans tend to reason.Who are the four best teams this year? Truthfully, only The Shadow knows—and as far as we know, he isn't a member … | Continue reading
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2023College football's best: We strongly agree with Kevin Drum about last night's Newsom / DeSantis "debate" on the Hannity program:DRUM (11/30/23): I watched the first half hour of tonight's debate between California governor Gavin Newsom and Florida governor … | Continue reading
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2023"Is this the best way we can grow our good fruit?" All through the annals of human history, we learn about the varied fates of the planet's "disregarded peoples."Some of these populations go on to be deeply despised. Some are then subject to genocides, as … | Continue reading
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2023Making a world we can live in: In our earlier post, we cited Chuck Schumer's guest essay in today's New York Times.Early on in his essay, he cited an incident at a high school in Queens. Headline included, this is the passage in question:Chuck Schumer: … | Continue reading
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2023In search of "a world we can live in:" As we noted yesterday, it isn't hard to understand the depth of Donny Deutsch's concern.As we noted, the depth of his concern emerges from disastrous historical roots. We'll quote his words again:DEUTSCH (10/30/23) … | Continue reading
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2023A sign of a bad economy: Friend, have President Biden and his "Bidenomics" produced a good economy?Within our blue tribe, we're constantly told that the answer is yes. Beyond that, we're told that it's hard to know why so many people tell pollsters som … | Continue reading
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2023And our tribe seemed to have a new bomb: In our view, it isn't hard to understand the ardor—the depth of feeling—of Donny Deutsch's reactions.On October 30, he appeared on Deadline: White House, where he discussed his reactions and views with Nicolle W … | Continue reading
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2023Only The Shadow knows: We're so old that we can remember when this sort of thing seemed to matter.In his new column for the New York Times, Paul Krugman discusses Nikki Haley's stance on Social Security. Here's what the headline says:Nikki Haley Is Comin … | Continue reading
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2023...adopted a slightly odd tone: As readers will know, we've often described Kevin Drum, late of Mother Jones, as our favorite blogger.We long for the day when we get to see a fuller discussion of his lengthy cover report for that magazine about the so-ca … | Continue reading
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2023...until this very morning: We ourselves wouldn't have written the headline that way. That said, headline included, here's part of the Washington Post's news report about the latest shooting, this time in Vermont:Man arrested after three Palestinian stude … | Continue reading
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2023No Cluelessness Left Behind: We've cited the famous old SNL skit before.When we say "old," we do mean old! The skit was performed on October 8, 1988, during the Bush-Dukakis campaign.The sketch presented Candidates Dukakis and Bush in a (fake) presidentia … | Continue reading
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2023Ruth Marcus listens well: We're not sure we've ever read a more worthwhile opinion column.We're speaking of the latest column by Ruth Marcus for the Washington Post. The column hasn't appeared in print editions yet. Online, the headline says this:A troubl … | Continue reading
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2023Teach your parents well: Is Bernie Sanders "pro-Palestinian?"At the New York Times, it seems that they may not be sure. Today's editions feature a long guest essay by Sanders about a high-profile situation. Online, the headline on his essay says this:Be … | Continue reading
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2023...what's up with Donald J. Trump? When we were kids, Thanksgiving morning was all about the Winchester-Woburn game.The game began at 11 a.m. On his way to winning the Heisman Trophy at the Naval Academy, Joe Bellino was the star of the hometown Winche … | Continue reading
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2023How about some cable news stars? It's a proven fact! College students often show limited judgment.Of course, we adults routinely show limited judgment too. Reportedly, that can even happen, on the rare occasion, among upper-end mainstream journalists!S … | Continue reading
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2023Fox & Friends / comic relief: "We have all sorts of folks here," one of the Fox friends said.It was roughly 6:25 a.m. Eastern. The speaker was Steve Doocy. He's been one of the regular weekday friends since 1998!Doocy was introducing this morning's seven … | Continue reading
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2023When do we start calling names? Our own blue tribe has faced an obvious analytical challenge in these modern and perhaps final days.That challenge centers on a key question: When do we start calling names?The problem breaks down like this:Rather plainly, … | Continue reading
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2023How should they cover vast suffering? How should this nation's major news orgs cover the vast amounts of suffering involved in this current war?In this morning's Washington Post, Will Sommer (no relation) ponders one form of that question. In print editio … | Continue reading
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2023Some stars say they have no idea: Over the weekend, "a new arrival on the front became the topic of general conversation."The new arrival was a new poll about next year's election—a poll from NBC News. Next year's election is one year away! Still and all, … | Continue reading
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2023Let's go way, way back: This morning's New York Times features a "guest essay" by Dalia Hatuqa. The essay carries a headline whose accuracy can't be denied:This War Did Not Start a Month AgoThis War Did Not Start a Month Ago, the headline says. But when … | Continue reading
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2023How many non-"whites" in the Senate? The Washington Post's Dan Balz has had a long and extremely sane journalistic career.We met him once, up in New Hampshire, during the week of the 2000 primary. We were introduced by Mary Matalin as part of an impossibl … | Continue reading
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2023Many Gazans, UN staffers killed: Nicholas Kristof could have been criticized right out of the gate.Those in the grip of a certain passion could have said that he needed a sign—a sign just like the astonishing yard sign assigned to Barack Obama.In yesterda … | Continue reading
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2023And to an occupation: Last Saturday, it appeared as a front-page report in the New York Times. In their report, Hartocollis and Saul sifted through a war of words which is currently being fought on some college campuses. Online, their report appears ben … | Continue reading
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2023Some say it's a blockade: We don't think that the people we'll name are actually "the worst."In our view, their behavior has been astoundingly dumb and extremely unhelpful. But according to experts, this is the way we humans are inclined to behave at ti … | Continue reading
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2023How many do you want? The first number we heard today we heard on Fox & Friends.Three hundred thousand people had attended yesterday's demonstration, the friends said again and again.That was a very big number! Then we consulted the New York Times, and … | Continue reading
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2023Nor of the West Bank: With apologies for the repetition, you might remember the very first things Barack Obama said.We refer to the first things Obama said on a certain videotape. His comments produced a wave of reaction from observers on the Fox News … | Continue reading
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2023No one attempts to explain: Does the state of Louisianan currently have a racist congressional districting map?According to this recent post by Kevin Drum, the answer would seem to be yes. Headline included, this is the way the Drumster's short post begi … | Continue reading
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2023He was troubled by one key word: It's hardly surprising to see that people have been emotional, disturbed, upset—to see that many people have been "passionate"—in the aftermath of the slaughter conducted by Hamas on October 7.It would be odd if people we … | Continue reading
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2023Information rarely intrudes: This very morning, on Morning Joe, the gang readjusted the focus of what we'd call their passionate intensity.Over the past few weeks, the focus of their passionate intensity had been the (unexplainable) antisemitism which is … | Continue reading