Is the tremendous fawning over Ronald Reagan just nostalgia, or is there more to it? During the last presidential campaign, the Bush people did their best to foster a comparison between Bush Jr. and the Gipper. Perhaps the strong reaction to Reagan’s death this week is as much a...
Continue ReadingIs Condi Rice losing it, or is it just her ineptitude showing through? I think it’s the latter. Up until recently, Rice’s preoccupation with appearance (see my previous character analysis) has saved her from seeming out of her league. After the p.r. beating she took during the 9/11 hearings...
Continue ReadingBen Smith’s analysis in the May 31 New York Observer seems dead on. Republican moderates seems to be seizing the momentum from the more extreme wing of the party. Whether you’re talking about McCain, Giuliani, Kean, Powell, Spector, Lugar or Schwarznegger, it seems there’s a real power shift going...
Continue Readingsend this cartoon to a friend! You have to appreciate Lakhdar Brahimi’s undiplomatic candor. (It’s the same manner Han Blix displayed in the run-up to the war.) In a political situation characterized by duplicity, here is the (supposedly) key player in the “transfer of power” matter-of-factly referring to Paul...
Continue ReadingBesides another great diagram, UggaBugga links to a potentially explosive story in the Washington Post involving the NYTimes’ Judith Miller. According to the report, Miller played a key operational role in a military team seeking WMD. You should read it. (diagram: UggaBugga)
Continue ReadingAssuming you factor out possible cultural differences (such as Iraqis and Americans having different preferences in newsstands), what kind of messages are in this picture the NY Times led with on Thursday? (The caption reads: “In Baghdad yesterday, Iraqi’s read newspaper headlines a day after the new Iraqi government...
Continue ReadingAs Bush heads for Normandy to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the D-Day landing, the latest pitch is that:
Continue ReadingThe President’s surreal episode with his umbrella yesterday seemed completely fitting. With the naming of the new interim leaders in Iraq, it’s as if a magical wind has blown through Washington carrying all his troubles away. Suddenly Bush is ebullient. He’s turned the corner. And now he’s off to...
Continue ReadingHow do you read this picture that the Washington Post chose for their cover this morning? Photos other papers ran of new Iraqi President Ghazi al-Yawer were much more regal and uncomplicated. Here are a few takes: >>Shadowy figure in background highlights al Yawer as security target. >>Leadership situation...
Continue ReadingLast month, I commented on an article from the Columbia Journalism Review by Jesse Sunenblick entitled “The Murder of Political Illustration.” The gist of the article was that major newspapers have abandoned publishing political illustrations that are controversial or have their own narrative. Since reading the piece, I have...
Continue ReadingThese were the images I saw on television as a young girl, before our government learned that its citizens tend not to support wars after they see what war does to our soldiers.
Continue ReadingIn the first running of the President’s Cup early today in Baghdad, the Iraqi’s finally broke the stranglehold of the Americans. Riding for the U.S., jockey Paul “the whip” Bremer was not able to withstand a late charge by Governing Council, which placed second. Heading into the last turn,...
Continue ReadingAs the fallout from Abu Ghraib continues to reverberate, one way media and government seems to be responding is by taking a fresh look at the condition of people who are incarcerated or living under adverse political circumstances. Recently, I came across interactive pieces that reflect each condition. An...
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