Media

It was a little like Pravda running an expose on Lenin’s sex life, or The Wall Street Journal editorializing on the fetishes of conservative economist Friedrich Hayek. Three weeks ago, the L.A. Weekly, once the most reliably left-wing publication in the city, published a cover story all but alleging that the late union chief Miguel Contreras died in a brothel in South L.A.

But the story itself wasn’t as shocking as the fact that it was published at all in Los… more

With a droll, self-deprecating demeanor, Robert Wright engages a smiling Mickey Kaus each week in a conversation broadcast on their Web site, Bloggingheads.tv. Their running quarrel has attracted a growing number of Web users who want to see rather than merely read bloggers — and who appreciate the efforts to wrestle with the issues of the day.

Mr. Wright, a lean, neatly dressed fellow with a slightly dyspeptic online persona, is more liberal than Mr. Kaus. The founder of the blog… more

Homogenizing the image of the "other" has always been a way for groups to marginalize undesirable minorities and foreigners. Two dozen centuries ago, Hippocrates wrote that the Scythians -- nomadic people whom the Greeks considered barbaric -- all looked alike. By contrast, the good doctor could discern that his own people came in all shapes and sizes.

To refuse to make distinctions among members of any given group is the first step to stripping them of individuality. And depriving people of… more

I don’t know what was more disturbing, the lame attempt to suppress immigrant voter turnout in California’s 47th Congressional District or the breathless reporting and hyper-indignation that followed it.

Editorialists called the incident "despicable." Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger labeled it "racist" and a "hate crime." The chairman of the Orange County Republican Party called it "grotesque and obnoxious." You’d think they were all talking about a lynching, or at least a cross-burning. But no, it was a rather pedantic letter sent… more

It's a paradox of our time that the Amish, arguably the least technological people in America, have nevertheless proven to be extraordinarily effective at communicating what they believe. In a time of proliferating techno-clutter, they got their message across the old-fashioned way: through the blood sacrifice of martyrs.

Of course, there's no reason to think the Amish -- who lost five of their own in an Oct. 2 school shooting in Pennsylvania -- had any plan for teaching us a lesson… more

People have always wanted to communicate, not to mention bloviate, and so the op-ed as an idea is perfectly safe. But the expression of that idea -- the mode of communication -- is subject to change. Big change. Yet if op-editors can keep up, they could find themselves with an even bigger role in the streaming future.

Marshall McLuhan was right four decades ago when he predicted that the "Gutenberg Era" -- the era of print -- was coming to… more

People have always wanted to communicate, not to mention bloviate, and so the op-ed as an idea is perfectly safe. But the expression of that idea -- the mode of communication -- is subject to change. Big change. Yet if op-editors can keep up, they could find themselves with an even bigger role in the streaming future.

Marshall McLuhan was right four decades ago when he predicted that the "Gutenberg Era" -- the era of print -- was coming to… more

So what to make of the Mark Foley "Pagegate" scandal? And of Republican efforts to "de-Foley-ate" themselves of collective blame for his actions in time for November? Four points:

First, as with Watergate in the ‘70s, Iran-Contra in the ‘80s, and the Bill Clinton sex scandals of the ‘90s, nobody really knows what to think, amidst an ever-increasing swirl of allegations and rumors. Was President Richard Nixon really a crook? (Yes.) Had President Ronald Reagan really lost control of his White… more

It is conventional wisdom that the new democratic activists of the "netroots" are strong on political tactics but don’t have much to contribute to the war of ideas. Matt Bai, writing in The New York Times Magazine, charged disparagingly that "leaders of the netroots... will tell you that Big Ideas are overrated."

This isn’t entirely fair, but let’s take the point: The better-known lefty blogs are indeed weighted toward the tactical. They argue that the liberal establishment of think tanks and… more

Inside the mind of Gen. Pervez Musharraf, president of Pakistan:

I might be the first head of state in history who refused to answer a question at a press conference -- because I was contractually obligated to keep my mouth shut in advance of my appearance on 60 Minutes. When faced with a choice between my country and my company, I chose ... my company. The company pays better, and I will need rich American capitalists in the future. Probably the… more