The most recent issue of Time magazine has reaffirmed my decision to discontinue my subscription when it expires later this year. The ridiculous “lifestyle” Mcarticles dominating the magazine in recent years and the need to kowtow to the conservative right with new columnists were annoying enough. But the idiotic commentary from Michael Kinsley in the August 13 issue was the final nail in the coffin.
In a new low even for war apologists looking desperately for a scapegoat, Kinsley uses the high poll numbers at the start of the war to blame the American people for the conflict, rather than the Administration that prosecuted it and got us into the ill-advised conflict in the first place by misleading the country with outright lies and fear mongering; nor, do I notice, does he place any blame on the journalists who willingly lapped up and presented to the public as fact this misinformation without any questioning or investigation in what surely is one of the most stunning failures in the annals of American journalism. And they say it's liberals who like to blame America first!
I’m proud to say that I personally was against the war at the very start, even when it wasn’t "cool" to be against it.
Yes, as Kinsey says, the American people “now apparently regret those opinions” of having supported the war. At least the American people can recognize a policy failure when they see it. If only the present Administration had the same wisdom.
1 comment:
I kind of see your point, though I wouldn't call Kinsley's piece idiotic. It's technically true, and there is some responsibility there on the part of the public, but it kind of misses the point in that the punditocracy and the politicians set the tone of national opinion and are, after all, paid to know what's going on. And I applaud your decision about Time Magazine, which for decades has hidden its support for conservative/status quo/corporatist causes in the guise of objectivity and balance. However, while you've got the right army, you've hit the wrong target.
Kinsley is far from perfect and his career has been marked by its share of vagueness and weirdness, but he's no Joe Klein -- the real "liberal" idiot/conservative enabler at Time. Howard Fineman, who's smarter than Klein, often ends up doing the same thing as a supposed center liberal and/or objective writer. They're both also pretty unfriendly to bloggers and the netroots.(Unlike Kinsley, who is rarely mentioned, both Klein and Fineman are also favorite whipping boys at Daily Kos,)
But Kinsley, at least, is a pretty unapologetic liberal (and relatively new to Time) who, if he ever was a "war apologist", it's been years at least two or three years. Also, If you go to Media Matters (the liberal media watch dog site) and enter Kinsley's name, you'll get no hits. (Unless I misentered "Kinsey" or something.) Enter Joe Klein's, you'll get 130. I didn't try Fineman.
Still, this business is slippery and you're right to be suspicious. Remember the supposed liberal war bashers from Brookings last week who wrote in the NYT that "we just might win" only to be exposed by bloggers as long-time "liberal hawks" trying to salvage their past stances?
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