Web Picks

Posted on: March 23rd, 2011

The last time the Monitor listed some worthwhile websites and blogs it was back in the fall of 2009. So consider this listing a "Best of 2010/2011."

President Palin?

Posted on: March 9th, 2011

Last week's column, on the declining popularity of several of talk radio's most prominent conservative hosts, seems to have ruffled more than few feathers. Even some readers who in the past have agreed with the Monitor virtually down the line took issue this time - but, interestingly enough, not on the subject of talk radio hosts.

Twilight Of The Radio Gods?

Posted on: March 2nd, 2011

The interview with John Batchelor on the front page of this week's Jewish Press should clarify, for anyone who still doesn't get it, why Batchelor's show is thriving while many of talk radio's erstwhile Big Names suffer declining ratings.

More On Liberal Rage

Posted on: February 16th, 2011

Our column week before last, "No Hate Like Liberal Hate," drew a number of interesting responses from readers, many of whom submitted their own favorite morsels of liberal hate speech. A few noted that for many years Boston Globe columnist Jeff Jacoby devoted a column every December to the year's most egregious examples of liberal hate.

Sharansky: Reagan Right, Critics Wrong

Posted on: February 9th, 2011

Ronald Reagan, who would have been 100 this past Sunday, had an instinctive affinity for Jews and Israel. As an actor who spent decades in the heavily Jewish environment of Hollywood and who counted scores of Jews among his friends and colleagues, he moved easily in pro-Israel circles. Both as a private citizen and as governor of California he was a familiar sight and a favored speaker at various functions for Israel.

No Hate Like Liberal Hate

Posted on: February 2nd, 2011

Need further proof of how hopelessly liberal the mainstream media really are? Just consider the coverage of the accusations of incivility and incitement hurled at Republicans and conservatives by Democrats and liberals in the aftermath of the December shootings in Tucson.

When Lieberman’s Week Of Glory Turned Sour

Posted on: January 26th, 2011

The announcement by Senator Joe Lieberman that he will not run for reelection when his current term is up in 2012 triggered the Monitor's memories of the highlight of Lieberman's political career: Al Gore's selecting him in August 2000 to be his vice-presidential running mate.

Bad Old Times

Posted on: January 12th, 2011

Several readers took issue with the Monitor's statement last week that coverage of Israel by The New York Times, while still problematic on occasion, has improved markedly since Deborah Sontag left the paper's Jerusalem bureau nearly a decade ago.

2011 May Bring Changes Here

Posted on: January 5th, 2011

I've been thinking for some time now of giving the column a facelift if not a complete makeover and would appreciate reader input.

Move Along, No Bias Here

Posted on: December 22nd, 2010

The Media Research Center is out with its annual compilation of the year's Best Notable Quotables (December 2009 through November 2010) - a collection of dozens of examples of media liberal bias and idiocy that is as dispiriting as it is (unintentionally) humorous.

The Unbearable Lightness Of Larry King

Posted on: December 8th, 2010

Larry King will host his last edition of "Larry King Live" on CNN next week, and the Monitor can only say Good Riddance. King built a reputation and made a fortune as the master of the soft toss interview, which was fine for doing Frank Sinatra retrospectives but made for cringe-inducing television whenever the subject at hand required a tad more seriousness.

Mike Wallace’s Palestinian Mentor

Posted on: December 1st, 2010

Over the years, two Jewish journalists - Thomas Friedman and Mike Wallace - have been the subject of particularly intense vituperation in the letters and e-mails received by the Monitor, and both gentlemen have been scrutinized here on several occasions. One of the most popular columns, in terms of reader response, was a July 2002 piece on Wallace - actually, it was part of a series on Wallace the Monitor ran that summer - which looked at the possible genesis of his troubling attitude toward Israel.

The Curious Case Of Scott McConnell

Posted on: November 17th, 2010

After a brief hiatus as a print publication - since the August 2010 issue it had existed only as a website - The American Conservative is back with a December print edition. Founded in 2002 by, among others, inveterate Israel-bashers Pat Buchanan and Taki Theodoracopolous, TAC from its inception raised high the banner of paleoconservatism and isolationism, taking particular relish in attacking both neoconservativism and various Israeli government officials and policies.

Dreading Democracy In Action

Posted on: November 3rd, 2010

Anticipating with a sense of outright dread the widely expected Republican gains in this week's midterm elections, mainstream media types have been busy tarring Tea Party activists and bemoaning an electorate that would dare even entertain the thought of voting for the Grand Old Party and that failed to appreciate the unparalleled virtues of Barack Obama.

A Question For The Ages

Posted on: October 27th, 2010

In this week's Jewish Press front-page essay, Uri Kaufman takes a look at the seemingly unbreakable bond between American Jewry and the Democratic Party. It's something that's been pondered, discussed, debated, and written about for decades, and still the question remains: Why are Jews wedded to the Democrats, years after it stopped making any economic or political sense for them to remain in the marriage?

John Roy Carlson’s Unvarnished Truth

Posted on: October 20th, 2010

"John Roy Carlson" was one of several pen names used by the Armenian-American journalist Avedis Boghos Derounian, whose 1943 book Under Cover was a tremendously popular expose of Nazi sympathizers in America in the years leading up to World War II.

A Hate-Filled Voice Silenced

Posted on: October 6th, 2010

Joseph Sobran died last week. Regular readers may recall the Monitor devoting a handful of columns over the years to Sobran's malicious commentary on Jews and Israel. He was a supremely talented writer with a prose style smooth as silk, but sometime in the mid-1980's he descended deep into the fever swamps of anti-Semitism and never resurfaced.

The ‘Israel Wins’ Headline

Posted on: September 21st, 2010

This week's The Way We Were feature (page 75) takes a look at the issue of The Jewish Press published during the first week of the Yom Kippur War. The headline on that week's front page became something of a legend - and not in a positive way.

The Incredible Shrinking President

Posted on: September 15th, 2010

The liberal mainstream media seem to be turning with a vengeance on Barack Obama. Columns and articles bemoaning the president's acute lack of inspirational leadership, and the likelihood of a Democratic bloodbath in November, seem to be the order of the day.

That Infamous Photo

Posted on: September 7th, 2010

Ten years ago on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, which fell on Friday, Sept. 29, something occurred in Jerusalem that would reverberate far beyond the Middle East and the usual hours-long news cycle.