Of leaks, links and lies
If "viewpoint discrimination" is a crime, the media are the biggest offenders — From The New Criterion of April, 2017
Entry from April 6, 2017
Today is the one hundredth anniversary of America’s declaration of war against Germany and thus of her joining the British, French and Russian empires in their tremendous struggle against the German, Austrian and Ottoman empires — a struggle known at the time as the Great War. “Great,” that is, in the sense of large, as…
Entry from March 31, 2017
Maybe you’ve noticed, as I have, how much more media interest there has been in the ongoing war in Iraq since Donald Trump took office as commander-in-chief. Hm. I wonder why that might be? A clue could lie in the amount of reporting there has been lately about civilian casualties. A couple of days ago,…
Who Governs America?
If it’s not (yet) the media, that’s not through any lack of effort on their part. From The New Criterion of March, 2017
Entry from March 21, 2017
In my media column in the current edition of The New Criterion, I have occasion to mention the advertising blitz with which The New York Times greeted the new Trump administration. It appeared to me to have been based on Times columnist Jim Rutenberg’s conceit of himself and his colleagues as a brave little band…
Cessation of the Oracles
The media’s failure to recognize the degradation of their own authority could tip us off as to the reason for same — from The New Criterion of February, 2017
Manchester by the Sea
A great actors’ movie but, to that extent, not so great as a movie — From The American Spectator
All Wars Are Wars for Honor
[An address to the Friends of Delegate Lee Ware, Richmond, Virginia, February 16, 2017] Delegate Ware, Mr Bovenizer, Distinguished — and Honored — guests. A few weeks from now, we will celebrate — if “celebrate” is the right word — the one hundredth anniversary of America’s entry into World War I. I’m sure you all…
Entry from February 7, 2017
Even Donald Trump’s supporters, if there are any left, seem to be joining in the chorus of derision about his reply to Bill O’Reilly’s assertion that the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, is a "killer." Mr Trump had just said that he respected Mr Putin, and could easily have replied: "What has that got to do…
Faking it and Making it
There’s something pretty fake about the assumption that "fake news" all comes from one side — From The New Criterion of January, 2017
La La Land
A feeble parody of the old-time Hollywood musical that appears to have wowed critics not in spite of but because of all the ways it falls short of its original