By the author of The Conservative Resurgence and the Press: The Media’s Role in the Rise of the Right and of Journalism at the End of the American Century, 1965-Present. A former journalist with a Ph.D. in journalism, history and political science, McPherson is a past president of the American Journalism Historians Association and a board member for the Northwest Alliance for Responsible Media.
With yesterday’s post, I offered my reasons for ceasing regular blogging for the foreseeable future. But with more than 300 posts in the past year, it’s likely that you’ve missed a number of them. I’ll post a “top 50” list below, and will continue update the links on the right side of this page.
Since my first post, in which I predicted success for Barack Obama (not yet then the Democratic nominee) and problems for John McCain, a number of my posts have focused on topics of relatively short-term interest. Those include my June suggestions for whom Obama and McCain should select as running mates: More than two months before they made their choices, I suggested Joe Biden and Sarah Palin.
I predicted that despite their self-pitying self-righteousness and their ability to draw media attention, neither religious conservatives nor pseudo-liberal PUMAs would have much impact on the election. I anticipated that Hillary Clinton would fully support Obama, as she and Bill Clinton did. As a result, on the day that McCain took the lead in the polls for the first time two months before the presidential election, I predicted that Obama would win the election handily.
I’ve noted the passing of singer/storytellers Utah Phillips and Dan Seals, journalists (defining the term broadly) Robin Toner, Tim Russert and Tony Snow, pinup queen Bettie Page, and various newspapers. Many of my posts were less timely, however, and have ongoing relevance. Fifty of my favorites can be found below. Enjoy.
I realize that people find their way here at various times, and if you’re like me you’ll rarely go back and read many earlier posts. But I also think you might find some of those posts interesting, so here are 16 of my favorites:
One of the many hopes of those who voted for Barack Obama is that the embarrassment of Guantanamo might be closed. One of the very few benefits of Guantanamo, and of prisons in general, is the occasional glimpses of light cast on the humanity and hope of even the most destitute.
“Cup poems,” words scratched with pebbles into Styrofoam, offer one example. Perhaps none of the writings offered in one collection are great poetry, and one Amazon reviewer writes about the book of collected poems: “This is not poetry. It’s a political agenda chopped up into lines.” But for me, that raises the eternal question of what makes poetry great.
I would put such things as timeless truths and important questions high on the list. Great poems also must include beautiful, or at least creative, use of language, and that may be where the collection falls short. Still, there are lines worth considering as we reflect today on what we are most thankful for, including these words from the “world’s most famous journalist,: Sami al-Hajj:
They have monuments to liberty
And freedom of opinion, which is well and good.
But I explained to them
That architecture is not justice.
Speaking of architecture, in January I will visit Ground Zero and the Statue of Liberty for the first time. I’ve been thankful since the presidential election that the loss of the World Trade Center hasn’t quite managed to make Lady Liberty irrelevant.
Yet I also realize that despite the warnings of folks such as Deepak Chopra, yesterday’s unfortunate attacks and ongoing hostage situation in India (for which, despite hundreds of casualties, CNN felt obligated to provide a story headlined “Terrified Westerners describe Mumbai chaos” and a link to a separate story titled “Nashville woman hurt in Mumbai attacks”) make it likely that some will want to renew the same kind of policies that led to Guantanamo.
As we prepare to raise our own cups, let us be thankful on this day–but let us also pray for wisdom.
Next day update: While American media, including CNN, Fox News and The New York Times, bring the issue home by focusing stores on the Americans killed or injured in Mumbai–and Fox “terror expert” Walid Phares asks, “Are we at war, or not?” and argues that “the Jihadists are winning,” while Fox columnist John Avlon argues, “The war that was indelibly declared on September 11, 2001 continues unabated , not just against the U.S. but worldwide … ultimately a war between civilization and the terrorists”–Al-Jazeera again is left to remind us of the broader perspective, that the attacks are raising indigation around the world.
Appropriately for today, the 90th anniversary of the ended of the supposed “war to end all wars,” CNN has has a story about American World War II vets who were held in a Nazi slave camp, and then forced by their own government to keep quiet about it for more than 60 years.
Meanwhile, at the same time this morning, the second story on Fox News Web site is titled, “GOP Rep. Claims Obama wants ‘Nazi’-Like Security Force.” That’s the sort of hyperbole that gives Fox its good reputation among thinkers, of course, but also the kind of language used all too frequently by operatives of all political stripes for whom “Nazi” is a favorite fallback term for anyone who disagrees with them.
Most importantly, though, that is the kind of language that throughout American history men, and increasing numbers of women (remember when conservatives opposed letting women be killed in battle?), have fought and died to protect. Even though after 9/11 some “patriots” suggested that critics of the nation should just shut up, and President Bush suggested shopping as a way the non-soldiers among us could fight terrorism, most of us recognize that free speech is among the most important gifts our military protects.
Unfortunately presidents are all too willing to call upon that military to engage in stupid misadventures abroad. Those in the military then sacrifice so that others can shop and spew nonsense. In the words of Carl Sandburg, “And They Obey.” Today, let’s thank them. Better yet, let’s revitalize our efforts to reduce the likelihood that in the future we’ll be remembering new waves of them after their deaths.
Below, see a Pete Seeger medley of American war songs, and a video of Bruce Springsteen doing a live version of Seeger’s “Bring Them Home“:
Here is the complete 20-part series chronicling the history of George W. Bush’s Iraq War,perhaps the most astoundingly stupid presidential event in American history.
This is the 16th of a series related to Bush’s war, perhaps the most astoundingly stupid presidential event in American history. Also see Warku #1,#2,#3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13, #14, and #15.
This is the 15th of a series related to Bush’s war, perhaps the most astoundingly stupid presidential event in American history. Also see Warku #1,#2,#3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, #13, and #14.
This is the 14th of a series related to Bush’s war, perhaps the most astoundingly stupid presidential event in American history. Also see Warku #1,#2,#3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12, and #13.
This is the 13thof a series related to Bush’s war, perhaps the most astoundingly stupid presidential event in American history. Also see Warku #1,#2,#3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11 and #12.
This is the 12th of a series related to Bush’s war, perhaps the most astoundingly stupid presidential event in American history. Also see Warku #1,#2,#3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, and #11.
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