Rush Limbaugh, the toxic right-wing talk show host who died Wednesday at the age of 70, came out of a regulatory environment that had changed utterly from what had come before. Although I like to tell my students that everything can be traced back to Richard Nixon, it was changes implemented by Ronald Reagan and …
Continue reading Rush Limbaugh’s career was made possible by Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton
President Joe Biden spoke for many of us about 30 minutes into his town hall event on CNN Tuesday night. “I’m tired of Donald Trump,” he said. “I don’t want to talk about him anymore.” Read the rest at GBH News.
And so it’s over. In the aftermath of Impeachment II, the main controversy is about whether the Democrats did the right thing in reversing themselves over calling witnesses. I think they made a wise judgment. And Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s hypocrisy shows why. In a blistering speech, McConnell endorsed the entire factual basis of …
Continue reading McConnell’s hypocrisy shows why Democrats made the right call on witnesses
Well, this is certainly a novel response to receiving a public-records request. The Republican attorney general of Louisiana, Jeff Landry, has sued a reporter for The Advocate and The Times-Picayune. The newspapers are seeking records about an official in the AG’s office who’s been accused of sexual misconduct. Landry has asked a judge to issue …
Continue reading A Louisiana reporter files a public-records request — and gets sued for her efforts
On Monday, The New York Times published the results of a massive investigation into Donald Trump’s attempts to overturn the results of the election. Today comes the tragicomic conclusion: a report by Axios on an insane meeting that took place at the White House on Dec. 18 at which the conspiracy-addled lawyer Sidney Powell tried …
Continue reading Long knives, short tempers — and ridiculous theories about the election
Following the deadly attack on Congress on Jan. 6, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published an editorial calling on Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., to resign or be kicked out “for his role in spreading disinformation about the presidential election.” Johnson submitted a response — and the Journal Sentinel published it along with 19 footnotes “to provide …
Continue reading Ron Johnson’s home-state paper publishes his lies — with footnotes
This Associated Press obituary of Larry King makes no mention of his spending his waning years working for the Russian propaganda outlet RT. But RT itself doesn’t hold back, even touting a 2019 interview King did with George Papadopoulos, a figure in the Russia scandal who was pardoned by Donald Trump just before he left …
Continue reading AP obit of Larry King leaves out his ties to Russia
Suzanne Nossel, the chief executive of PEN (Poets, Essayists and Novelists) America, is concerned that the second impeachment of Donald Trump could be used to weaken the legal standard for convicting someone of incitement to violence. I differ with her New York Times op-ed, and in fact I think criminal charges could be brought against …
Continue reading The pros and cons of charging Trump with incitement to violence
Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to Media Nation for just $5 a month. Click here for details. Donald Trump was never going to be anything other than a terrible president. His political persona was crafted in the racism of birtherism, and to that he added misogyny and vicious cruelty. But it’s interesting to ponder …
Continue reading A glimpse of the more formidable leader Trump might have been
Previously published at WGBHNews.org. The New York Times may be rethinking its decision to publish Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton’s terrible, offensive op-ed piece endorsing the use of military force to crush the violent protests that have broken out around the country following the brutal police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Though Cotton’s essay was posted online …
Continue reading No, The New York Times shouldn’t have published Tom Cotton’s ugly little screed
