Headline Of The Year Nominee

March 10th, 2011

As Rep Peter King (R-NY) continues his manipulation of the homeland security committee for cravenly political purposes, TPM has some cynically informed coverage with a definite HOTY nominee:

Peter King Hearing Focuses On Whether Peter King Hearing Was A Good Idea

"The four hours of testimony yielded few new ideas about how to deter homegrown extremism, or insight on the breadth of the problem. Instead, members of Congress fixated on a somewhat moot point -- whether the hearing was such a brilliant idea in the first place.

In his opening statement, King hit back at those who've been critical of the limited scope of the hearings. He justified his decision, saying that the threat of neo-Nazis and lone mad men don't compare to the threat of al-Qaeda. "Despite what passes for conventional wisdom in certain circles, there is nothing radical or un-American in holding these hearings," he said."


Good times.

More Amazing Good News... Too Inconvenient For American Media.

Jan 7th, 2011

A few days ago, I let loose (quite legitimately, I might add) on Marty Peretz for his recent essay in TNR regarding Muslim reaction to the violence against Egypt's Copts. 

The broader point I was trying to make had to do not just with the general omission from American media of information that reflects poorly on our own country, but also the exclusion of news which inconveniently demonstrates positive action in others. Here are some more current happenings you might not have heard about:

From Ahram Online:

"Egypt’s majority Muslim population stuck to its word Thursday night. What had been a promise of solidarity to the weary Coptic community, was honoured, when thousands of Muslims showed up at Coptic Christmas eve mass services in churches around the country and at candle light vigils held outside.

From the well-known to the unknown, Muslims had offered their bodies as “human shields” for last night’s mass, making a pledge to collectively fight the threat of Islamic militants and towards an Egypt free from sectarian strife.

“We either live together, or we die together,” was the sloganeering genius of Mohamed El-Sawy, a Muslim arts tycoon whose cultural centre distributed flyers at churches in Cairo Thursday night, and who has been credited with first floating the “human shield” idea."