. This commentary previously appeared in the Algemeiner on May 17, 2013. Joshua Foust has written at Foreign Policy a misleadingly essay titled “A Liberal Case for Drones.” I think there is such a case, but this it not it and a case for drones is not even truly the subject of the piece. The […]
Mainstreaming Bias
Among the most common complaints of those at the political edges – those on left or right who perceive themselves not to hold the reigns of institutional power – is that the mainstream media, along with other power centers, shapes our perceptions. It shapes and distorts our perception of reality in varied ways, including selection […]
The Future of the Human Rights Movement
Last week was a momentous one for the human rights movement. You may not have noticed it. The movement itself may not realize it. But it was. The New Republic published Benjamin Birnbaum’s Minority Report: Human Rights Watch fights a civil war over Israel. Birnbaum recounts with greater inside detail than we have had before, […]
Who Will Watch the Watchers?
Who said, “To err is human, to be defensive about it divinely oblivious”? Oh, that was me. Not exactly the arresting pith of its model, but it begins my point. It is always bracing to observe the response to criticism of those who devote themselves professionally to the analysis and criticism of others. News organizations, […]
Israel: A Turning Point
When the infamous 1975 United Nations resolution 3379 declared that “Zionism is a form of racism,” 25 nations sponsored the resolution and an additional 47 voted for it. Thirty-two nations abstained from the voted. Only 36 countries voted against it. It was not until 1991 that the resolution was revoked. Certainly, many nations had experienced […]