Out of the Closet

Monday 18 September 2006 | general

So I recently admitted to reading the Washington Times.

Sure, it’s a rough-and-tumble mouthpiece of the right wing, but it’s so much fun. Just look at this stuff from the op-eds:

  • The French irritation with America grows out of wounded pride, a sense that France is not as important in the world as it once was, but a President Sarkozy might restore some of that lost pride and with it an appreciation for stronger links with America. (Suzanne Fields)
  • The following are the chamber remarks of the fictional Lord Harold Reid (whose fictional grandson, in the 21st century would become leader of the fictional Democratic Party in the U.S. Senate).I regret to have to stand up tonight, on the day of defeat at the hands of the Germans of our French ally’s armies at Sedan and on the Meuse River to observe that on this solemn occasion Prime Minister Winston Churchill has chosen to politicize and cheapen the moment. (Tony Blankley)
  • Just as the mainstream media is fond of Bush bashing and calling all Republicans right-wingers — even when there is no conspiracy — the local press view politicians through biased eyes. They demonize pro-life politicians as anti-abortion rights; they view advocates of school choice as opposing public schools; they write profusely about a Jewish Democratic candidate Ben Cardin beating Kweisi Mfume, who has a African name, in Maryland with only 44 percent of the Democratic vote, and practically ignore the fact that Michael Steele, a black Catholic Republican, bested his primary run with 87 percent of the vote — nearly twice that of Mr. Cardin. (Deborah Simmons)
  • Yet the ephemerality of the sense of solidarity, to me, seems more an indication of its artificiality than of squandered sustainability. The United States, in the post-September 11 world, would be going places where few would be able to follow even if they were inclined to do so, starting with Afghanistan. Because Afghanistan was a quick success in terms of ousting the Taliban government and scattering al Qaeda to the four winds, people tend to forget the “graveyard of empires” analysis that swirled around the notion of dispatching the U.S. military to undertake “regime change” there. People also tend to forget the early reports of a bogged-down operation. (Tod Lindberg)

Good stuff…

Seriously, though, I find it difficult to understand folks who say, for example, “Oh, I never read the New York Times — too much liberal bias.” How would one know, then?

“I don’t watch CNN because it’s owned by Ted Turner.” “I don’t read the Washington Times because it’s owned by Sung Yung Moon.” I don’t see much difference.

Occasionally I’ll even find myself somewhat agreeing with the WT — but that’s for another day.

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