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In this issue
Nov. 6, 2009
Rabbi Berel Wein: Choosing to hear
JWisdom.com Zero to 1/60th: How to Empower An Hour with Gavriel Aryeh Sande (7 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick The mullahs' big week
Suzanne Fields A Fallen Wall for Fallen Man
Nov. 5, 2009
The Kosher Gourmet: Three scrumptious -- but simple -- butternut squash dishes
JWisdom.com Hidden Hints: Unlocking Faith & Prayer with Rabbi Jay Yaacov Schwartz (10 minutes)
Nov. 4, 2009
Tom Hamburger and Kim Geiger: Should prayers be covered?
JWisdom.com When God played peacemaker With Rabbi Sroy Levitansky (5 minutes)
Nov. 3, 2009
Martin Peretz: Beware, Barack. Beware, Rahm. Beware, Axelrod
JWisdom.com Are you are closet idolater? With Sara Yoheved Rigler (10 minutes)
Nov. 2, 2009
Paul Greenberg: The Holocaust is now on Facebook
JWisdom.com Abraham's Strange Change With Rabbi Yitzchok Fingerer (5 minutes)
Oct. 30, 2009
Rabbi David Aaron: Secret to Immortality
Caroline B. Glick Silencing dissent in America
Oct. 29, 2009
Lini S. Kadaba: Do tactics avert flu or reduce humanity?
JWisdom.com We Must Revamp our Religious Vocabulary With Gavriel Aryeh Sanders ( 10 minutes)
Oct. 28, 2009
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Atheists in Bubbleland
JWisdom.com Why what we wear impacts who we are With Rabbis Mordechai Becher, Menachem Golberger and Aliza Bulow ( 10 minutes)
Oct. 27, 2009
Paul Greenberg: The United Nations Is Outraged Again, Or: Department of Mideast Static
JWisdom.com The Science of Love With Rabbi Jonathan Rietti ( 7 minutes)
Oct. 26, 2009
The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Damaging disclosures with a twist
JWisdom.com Wisdom and Wonks With Rabbi Eytan Feiner ( 7 minutes)
Oct. 23, 2009
Rabbi David Aaron: Are you ready for the ultimate pleasure?
JWisdom.com Watermark and oneness with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 4 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick Stop using limited powers in a way that expands our enemies' advantages over us
Oct. 22, 2009
Steven Emerson: Terror Cases Share Desire to Kill Americans
JWisdom.com No More More Family Fights --- Really? By Sarah Chana Radcliffe ( 5 minutes)
Oct. 21, 2009
Tonya Alanez: Holocaust denier sues survivor, calling Auschwitz memoir 'vicious lies'
JWisdom.com Meditating Jewishly: A Panacea for Success by Sarah Yoheved Rigler ( 7 minutes)
Oct. 20, 2009
Dennis Prager: Obama and Dalai Lama: Why Israel Worries about U.S. President
JWisdom.com Abraham was not religious By Rabbi Yitzchok Fingerer ( 6 minutes)
Oct. 19, 2009
JWisdom.comWhy Good People Do Bad Things By Rabbi Eytan Feiner ( 7 minutes)
Oct. 16, 2009
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: The Perfect Number
JWisdom.com Hearing Voices By Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 5 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick How Turkey was lost
Oct. 15, 2009
Jeff Jacoby: Peace vs. the 'peace process'
JWisdom.com: Former MTV producer and stand-up comedian Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff: Taming a Control Freak (A VERY fast 15 minutes)
Oct. 29, 2003
Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)

Jewish World Review Jan. 17, 2005 / 7 Shevat, 5765

The Real Problem with American Journalism

By Tucker Carlson


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | This week CBS News finally admitted that the bomb Dan Rather tried to drop on President Bush during the election was in fact a pathetic dud. A columnist conceded that the White House paid him $250,000 to repeat its propaganda. And a debate broke out about debate. There's just too much of it on television for some people, for the smart people, anyway. Their paper, The New York Times, opined that television news is, "a wash with primal screams." It resembles, the Times said, "a pre-game show for professional wrestling." In other words, it's vulgar, in bad taste, or just plain bad.


Well all of this reminded us of the wars, Tipper Gore and an army of professional scolds used, to wage against rock musicians. Music is good, but Twisted Sister and Frank Zappa, well they're obscene. The children must be protected, and so on.

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Well this particular strain of elite American opinion knows exactly what's good for you. These days the consensus is that political debate on television is fine, but only when it is, as the Times suggested, cool. All light, no heat. Well in fact we got to see a handful of those cool debates during the presidential campaign. No one had to stray from the script or think on his feet, or actually answer his opponent's questions. And it turns out that was bad for America.


Informative debate does not have to be loud or nasty, as it sometimes is. Watching people yell at each other may be uncomfortable. But it's not the worst thing. Some opinions lurk behind a pose of objectivity. Others are paid for. Our response ought to be, more exuberant debate, not less.

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in Washington and the media consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.

CARLSON'S LATEST
"Politicians, Partisans, and Parasites: My Adventures in Cable News.  

The book is not about bashing liberals (indeed, Carlson admits that his Ober-liberal cohost James Carville is "one of my favorite people"), but about the colorful and at times irreverent people who make politics so interesting-and entertaining. The author reserves his criticism for stuffy politicians who take themselves too seriously, and he lavishes praise on those who make good on-air guests. Sales help fund JWR.


JWR contributor Tucker Carlson is a journalist, college instructor, public speaker and host and managing editor of the PBS show "Tucker Carlson: Unfiltered". Comment by clicking here.




01/11/05: Can't buy me love
12/07/04: Who's responsible for the stolen Ukrainian election?
11/09/04: Commitment of Bush voters
11/01/04: America's Big Winner
10/25/04: Not voting is also a choice
10/12/04: The X Prize
09/27/04: Authenticity vs. hypocrisy
09/20/04: Appealing to the ‘Alzheimer's vote’ — no joke
09/13/04:Who are our soldiers in Iraq?
09/07/04: Racial diversity at the RNC
08/30/04: Here's a scary thought: Political expression has been criminalized and nobody seems to care
08/16/04: Heterosexuality as a political ploy

© 2005 Tucker Carlson