A Journalist’s Job

A Journalist’s Job

Following up. Here’s Brooks on last night’s debate:

The journalist’s job is to make politicians uncomfortable, to explore evasions, contradictions and vulnerabilities.

Let’s see. Off the top of my head, here are some questions I think could reasonably make a candidate uncomfortable during a debate.

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Following up. Here’s Brooks on last night’s debate:

The journalist’s job is to make politicians uncomfortable, to explore evasions, contradictions and vulnerabilities.

Let’s see. Off the top of my head, here are some questions I think could reasonably make a candidate uncomfortable during a debate.

1) Senator, if you had to choose between personally plucking the limbs off an infant child or allowing Al Qaeda to drop a nuclear bomb on New York, which would you choose, and who’s child would it be?

2) Senator have you ever fantasized about having intercourse with someone other than your spouse. If so, who and in what positions?

3) Senator, a former staff member of yours told a reporter several months ago that you “must have a stomach ailment” because your, quote, “flatulence was so noxious.” Should we be concerned about your health?

Do any of these have redeeming journalistic value?

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Even before February 28, the reasons for Donald Trump’s imploding approval rating were abundantly clear: untrammeled corruption and personal enrichment to the tune of billions of dollars during an affordability crisis, a foreign policy guided only by his own derelict sense of morality, and the deployment of a murderous campaign of occupation, detention, and deportation on American streets. 

Now an undeclared, unauthorized, unpopular, and unconstitutional war of aggression against Iran has spread like wildfire through the region and into Europe. A new “forever war”—with an ever-increasing likelihood of American troops on the ground—may very well be upon us.  

As we’ve seen over and over, this administration uses lies, misdirection, and attempts to flood the zone to justify its abuses of power at home and abroad. Just as Trump, Marco Rubio, and Pete Hegseth offer erratic and contradictory rationales for the attacks on Iran, the administration is also spreading the lie that the upcoming midterm elections are under threat from noncitizens on voter rolls. When these lies go unchecked, they become the basis for further authoritarian encroachment and war. 

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