Reading at the Crossroads

Reading at the Crossroads is an archive for columns and letters which appeared in the Terre Haute Tribune Star. I also blog here when my patience is exhausted by what I feel is irritating, irrational and/or ironic in life. --gary daily

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Location: Terre Haute, Indiana, United States

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Monday, October 31, 2016

2016 -- Comey Letter 2 (a riff on Krugman column)

The problem with trying to put a gloss on a Paul Krugman column is that it's an impossible task. I want to quote and praise every line, every paragraph. But I'll force myself to one paragraph. This one:
"Part of this effectiveness comes through false equivalence: news organizations, afraid of being attacked for bias, give evenhanded treatment to lies and truth. Way back in 2000 I suggested that if a Republican candidate said that the earth was flat, headlines would read, “Views differ on shape of planet.” That still happens."
"That still happens." Poke your finger at any of Trump's 1000 lies, exaggerations, or ignorant acts of demagogy and here come the false equivalents on screens and in print. Hillary and Wikileaks (nothing beyond insider gossip and normal insider haggling there), Hillary and the Clinton Foundation (a stretch into unadulterated silliness and imaginings), and Clinton's home server problems (she fessed up, no charges, no harm detected). And that's it! Yet, while the 1000 Trump sins and crimes roll like a polluted creek into a cesspool of forgetfulness the meager HRC non-failings are flagged and flogged, taking center stage, flying and flapping mindlessly without any deeper analysis, in the media day-after-day. It's the steroids of false equivalence mainlined by an irresponsible, unprofessional, and commerce-based news media. It's disgusting. I hope it's not disastrous this election cycle. VOTE!
I

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