Off To The Races

Posted on: February 15th, 2012

The common lament from the smugly high-minded is that the media’s fascination with polls gives too much weight to the horse race aspect of a campaign, at the expense of the important and weighty discussions of policy for which voters presumably hunger. The Monitor says: Give us more of the horse race!

The Nixon Fascination

Posted on: February 1st, 2012

Americans never seem to tire of Richard Nixon, the man who strode the nation’s political stage for three decades, as congressman, senator, vice president and president, only to see his career come crashing down when his involvement in the Watergate scandal led to his resignation – the only U.S. president to so step down – in order to avoid certain impeachment.

The AP’s Gonzo Journalism

Posted on: February 1st, 2012

There is a place for what Hunter Thompson called “Gonzo journalism,” but it isn’t a wire service news report, where the ancient Five Ws are still appropriate.

Bias Exemplified

Posted on: January 19th, 2012

The Monitor often is asked for an example of a news story that exhibits such blatant bias it astounds even a jaded observer of the mainstream media. Such a story appeared in the March 29, 2006 edition of The New York Times, on the occasion of the passing of Lyn Nofziger, longtime aide to Ronald Reagan.

Cracker Barrel – Or Crackpot?

Posted on: December 28th, 2011

Why have the media for the most part been so reluctant to expose the long documented fringe positions – including a clear and deep animus toward Israel – articulated by Texas congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul?

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Our Uncle Tom Strikes Again

Posted on: December 21st, 2011

Thomas Friedman, the New York Times foreign affairs columnist, proved once again last week that despite his non-stop insistence that he has Israel’s best interests at heart, he relishes nothing more than slinging mud at Israel and its most vocal American supporters.

Remembering Two Special Readers

Posted on: December 7th, 2011

As I was saying… With apologies to the late Jack Paar, who uttered those words his first night back as host of the old “Tonight Show” after a three-week absence in 1960, the Monitor returns this week after its own little hiatus.

The Left’s Instinctive Reaction To 9/11

Posted on: September 7th, 2011

As we mark the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, it would be instructive to look back at the early reactions to the atrocity on the part of some prominent leftists. It's become something of a mantra on the left that the whole world initially sympathized with the U.S., and that America's image was so irredeemably tarnished only after the evil warmonger George W. Bush trashed the Constitution and sent the American military off to slaughter innocent Muslims in the interests of Halliburton and other capitalist behemoths.

The Medved Alternative

Posted on: August 24th, 2011

If you're a conservative who's tired of the increasingly cartoonish yawping coming from the Limbaughs and Hannitys and Savages of talk radio, you might want to check out Michael Medved's nationally syndicated program (heard in the New York area on WNYM 970 from 3-5 p.m. weekdays and 3-6 a.m. Sundays).

More On That Old Democratic Treadmill

Posted on: August 10th, 2011

The last couple of columns, both of which focused on Jewish voting habits in presidential elections, inspired some spirited responses from readers.

Jews And The Democratic Treadmill

Posted on: July 27th, 2011

Two weeks ago, in a column on Jewish voting patterns, the Monitor pointed to the 1984 electionas evidence "that a Republican presidential candidate, whether incumbent or challenger and no matter how strong his record on Israel, will always lose among Jewish voters when the alternative is a liberal Democrat without any pronounced or well-known hostility to Israel."

Obama, Jews And 2012

Posted on: July 13th, 2011

A Gallup poll released last week showed Barack Obama maintaining a strong level of Jewish support. The poll sparked yet another round of newspaper stories and web articles on whether the Republicans have any hope of even a respectable showing among Jews in the 2012 presidential election.

Israel’s Demented Leftist Icon Raves On

Posted on: June 29th, 2011

In the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 attacks on America, Uri Avnery, the ancient icon of the Israeli Left, a bitter old fool who serves as living refutation of the belief that wisdom is an inevitable byproduct of old age, placed the blame squarely on the U.S. and its support of Israel.

Revising The Six-Day War

Posted on: June 15th, 2011

Every few years at around this time the Monitor reflects on how perceptions have changed so drastically regarding Israel's massive victory in the 1967 Six-Day War.

The Ignorant American

Posted on: June 7th, 2011

Two days after the 9/11 attacks, CNN and Time magazine released a joint poll asking whether the U.S. should declare war. Sixty-two percent of respondents said yes. Asked whom war should be declared against, 61 percent said they didn't know.

Kushner No Mere ‘Critic’ Of Israel

Posted on: May 18th, 2011

From the reaction of many on the liberal/left to the controversy over CUNY's granting an honorary degree to playwright Tony Kushner, one sees yet again just how unremarkable and acceptible the most virulent views of Israel have become, even - perhaps especially - among Jews.

Remember 2002? (Part II)

Posted on: May 4th, 2011

Last week we noted that with the recent brouhaha over Judge Richard Goldstone's backtracking on the most sensational charge leveled against Israel in his 2009 report to the UN, "much has been made of the damage done by that document to Israel's standing in the court of international opinion."

Remember 2002? (Part I)

Posted on: April 28th, 2011

With Judge Richard Goldstone's recent sort-of recantation of the most incendiary charge leveled against Israel in the 2009 report to the United Nations that will forever bear his name, much has been made of the damage done by that document to Israel's standing in the court of international public opinion.

The Man Who Remade The NY Times

Posted on: April 13th, 2011

Though he had more than his share of detractors during and after his years as managing and then executive editor of The New York Times, can there be any doubt that the paper began its precipitous and still ongoing decline the moment A.M. Rosenthal was forced, by company policy, to retire in 1986 at age 65?

Pro-Israel But Not Presidential

Posted on: March 30th, 2011

Sarah Palin sure makes it hard for those who care about Israel to dismiss her out of hand. On her brief visit to Israel last week she said the kinds of things one expects to hear from passionate Israel activists at meetings and rallies, not from politicians - even those with stellar pro-Israel credentials - concerned with appearing wise and judicious and nuanced and even-handed.