Altercation

Who's Jailing Journalists?

By Eric Alterman

Roundup:

We've got a new "Think Again" column called "Who's Jailing Journalists?" here in which we wonder, aloud, why the United States has joined the alleged Axis of Evil in jailing journalists without charge.

And I did a piece for the Daily Beast on "The Death of the Neocons" here.

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June 25, 2009

Slacker Friday

By Eric Alterman

Charles Pierce
Newton, MA.

Hey Doc:

"There's a man in old Pawtucket/Sells steamed clams by the bucket/So when I want clams in a bucket, I go to old Pawtucket/ 'Cause I'm a hungry man."

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June 19, 2009

Mistah Kurtz, Continued

By Eric Alterman

We've got a new Think Again column called "Chiller, Socialist Theater," about how Obama's turning us Commie, here and my new Nation column is a tribute to the 50th anniversary of William Appleman Williams' Tragedy of American Diplomacy, here. Also, I did an analysis of Bibi Netanyahu's bait-and-switch speech for the Daily Beast here.

I was genuinely shocked by Howard Kurtz's defense of CNN in a Post chat, not only because of its incredible lameness, but also because Kurtz did not disclose the fact of his being on CNN's payroll. I wrote a short note to Romenesko's letters column, which he printed, but did not make notice of on the site, so I sent a slightly different version of it to Andy Alexander, who recently became the Washington Post's ombudsman. I have to say, I'm impressed with his response, which you can find here. What I like about it is not only that it holds Kurtz accountable, (and is generally friendly to me), but because it raises the larger issue of the Post's unwillingness to disclose its conflict-of-interest policies. This is quite important, and goes to the heart of why large news organizations are losing the trust of readers, etc. But these organizations need to keep their options open to retain their big shots who don't like to follow the rules and so they don't want to codify their policies. (See under "Friedman, Thomas.") Alexander explains that the Post policy is under review, which is to the good, but let's see if and when they publish it. He writes:

Readers such as Alterman are entitled to know the standards to which The Post holds itself. In a column several months ago, I wrote:

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June 18, 2009

Slacker Friday

By Eric Alterman

Wrap-up: We've got a new Think Again column called "Sotomayor and SCOTUS, Captured on a Carousel of Time" about the punditocracy confirmation hearings here. And I did a post for The Daily Beast on the recent metzora-making of Joe "The Volcano" Lieberman here.

Alter-reviews:

Sal on Keep Your Soul: A Tribute to Doug Sahm

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June 12, 2009

Calling Mr. Colbert

By Eric Alterman

We've got a new Think Again column called "Sotomayor and SCOTUS, Captured on a Carousel of Time" about the punditocracy confirmation hearings here.

And I did a post for The Daily Beast on the recent metzora-making of Joe "The Volcano" Lieberman here.

Now this...

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June 11, 2009

Slacker Friday

By Eric Alterman

Weekly Wrap-up:

Our new "Think Again" column, "The Surprising Success of the Right-Wing Rant," is here. It's an exploration of the weird success of the right's hysterical racist and sexist attacks on Sonia Sotomayor in setting the MSM's agenda for their coverage.

I also did two columns this week for The Daily Beast; one this morning about Osama's attempts to link Obama to George W. Bush, here and one on the success of the Christian Right in this country in preventing access to abortion, even without murdering the doctors who perform it. My Nation column on the campaign to smear Izzy Stone is here with a follow-up in yesterday's Altercation, which is here (after the wrap-up).

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June 5, 2009

'Smearing Izzy Continued,' Continued…

By Eric Alterman

Our new "Think Again" column, "The Surprising Success of the Right-Wing Rant," is here. It's an exploration of the weird success of the right's hysterical racist and sexist attacks on Sonia Sotomayor in setting the MSM's agenda for their coverage.

I also did two columns this week for The Daily Beast; one this morning about Osama's attempts to link Obama to George W. Bush, here and one on the success of the Christian Right in this country in preventing access to abortion, even without murdering the doctors who perform it.

Regarding my Nation column here, the twentieth anniversary of Tiananmen Square puts me in mind of the death of I.F. Stone, which happened right around the same time. It was one of Izzy's charms that it is entirely believable that, while in a hospital in Boston where he would finally give out, he awoke briefly from a lengthy period of unconsciousness to ask his doctors about the fate of the young protesters there. (His opposition to Chinese Communist oppression was of a piece with his brilliant exposes of the abuses of Soviet psychiatry at the end of his six days career. These do not of course "make up" for the mistakes he made defending Stalin half a century earlier, but they do provide context for those who would paint his politics as monochromatic.)

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June 4, 2009

Blues for New Orleans

By Eric Alterman

We've got a new Think Again column called "Cheney's Post Presidency" here and I did a "Welcome to Washington" post for Mr. Abbas for The Daily Beast this morning here.

(And while we have your attention, don't miss the great Charles Pierce on the great Steve Earle singing the music of the great Townes van Zandt here. Pierce and the rest of the mail will be here tomorrow and don't miss the documentary Bill Moyers is showing this weekend, listed below. And if I were you, I'd also catch the PBS showing of the Clapton/Winwood concert at the Garden tonight, unless you're planning to buy it, as I did.)

In the meantime...

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May 28, 2009

Slacker Thursday

By Eric Alterman

Our new Think Again column is here. It's called "Blogosphere to MSM: Get off the Bus (and Walk a Mile in Our Shoes...)" It's about the degree to which the Maureen Dowd flap inspired a look at how much the MSM is learning from the blogosphere, rather than vice-versa. This week's Nation column is called "Do "Better" with Less" here and it's about some unhappy trends in journalism. Earlier this week, I did a "welcome" piece on Bibi Netanyahu's visit to the Oval Office for The Daily Beast here and then I published a review of an excellent new book about AIPAC for the Forward which is here.

This week on Moyers:
Reforming healthcare. Washington's abuzz about healthcare, but why isn't a single-payer plan an option on the table? Bill Moyers speaks with advocate Donna Smith about how our broken system is hurting Americans, and then with Public Citizen's Dr. Sidney Wolfe and Physicians for a National Health Program's Dr. David Himmelstein about the political and logistical feasibility of health care reform.

Alter-reviews by Sal:

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May 21, 2009

Slacker Friday

By Eric Alterman

Our new "Think Again" column is called "Sex and the Single Justice" and it can be found here.

(It also contains an update on George Will's environmental reporting...)

1959: It was a very good year.

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May 15, 2009