Think Again

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Is Obamacare the End of Liberalism? Not So Much Article
An error message is displayed on the healthcare.gov website. The beleaguered health insurance website has had periods of downtime as as the government tries to fix the problems. (AP/Jon Elswick)

Is Obamacare the End of Liberalism? Not So Much

Pundits—evoking Chicken Little—treated the glitches in the health care website as a historic catastrophe. They look more than a little silly now.

Eric Alterman

Murdoch, Ailes, and Fox: Right from the Start Article
Roger Ailes, left, answers questions after Rupert Murdoch, right, announced Ailes would lead Fox News in 1996. (AP/Richard Drew)

Murdoch, Ailes, and Fox: Right from the Start

A new book from reporter David Folkenflik details how Fox News’ shady practices have been around since day one.

Eric Alterman

A Bully Pulpit for Billionaires Article
New York City Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio joins Mayor Michael Bloomberg for a meeting in the

A Bully Pulpit for Billionaires

With its double-barrel attack on New York City Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio, The Economist shows its contempt for unions, evidence, and, ultimately, New York City voters.

Eric Alterman

The Super-Rich and Their Monster Article
The charging bull in lower Manhattan is seen on Wednesday, October 18, 2006. (AP/Mary Altaffer)

The Super-Rich and Their Monster

The super-rich earn more than $200 million a year and pay lower taxes than the rest of us. The biggest problem they have is the “monster” they helped create: Tea Party Republicans.

Eric Alterman

10 Years of False Equivalence and Still Going Strong Article
The mainstream media’s greatest failure has been its members’ inability to acknowledge the problem of false equivalence and an outdated commitment to objectivity. (AP/J. Scott Applewhite)

10 Years of False Equivalence and Still Going Strong

Will the mainstream media ever wise up to the fact that both sides in our political debate don’t play by the same rules?

Eric Alterman

Heads, the Tea Party Wins; Tails, the Tea Party Wins Article
Tea Party supporter William Temple of Brunswick, Georgia, protests against President Barack Obama's health care law outside the Supreme Court in Washington, Thursday, June 28, 2012. (AP/David Goldman)

Heads, the Tea Party Wins; Tails, the Tea Party Wins

The debate over the government shutdown and the debt ceiling demonstrates how Tea Party extremists, despite their unpopularity, enjoy a stranglehold on our politics.

Eric Alterman

‘Who Speaks for the Jews?’ Article
A Jewish boy stands before the American flag. (iStockphoto/selimaksan)

‘Who Speaks for the Jews?’

American Jews are less conservative and more dovish regarding Israel than the media and certain Jewish organizations would have us believe.

Eric Alterman

Bill de Blasio, ‘Sandalista’ Article
Democratic mayoral hopeful Bill de Blasio greets supporters after a news conference, Tuesday, September 17, 2013, on the steps of City Hall in New York. (AP/Mary Altaffer)

Bill de Blasio, ‘Sandalista’

In their desperation, Bill de Blasio’s opponents in the New York City mayoral race have turned the clock back to his time in Nicaragua, and the media is playing along.

Eric Alterman

Austerity Kills, and So Will the Sequester Article
Government workers supporting union members and activists protest against the across-the-board federal spending cuts known as sequestration at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia. (AP/Matt Rourke)

Austerity Kills, and So Will the Sequester

The mainstream media paints an inaccurate and overly rosy picture of sequestration's devastating effects.

Eric Alterman

Rupert Makes the News—Literally Article
Rupert Murdoch arrives at the Twentieth Century Fox & Fox Searchlight Pictures Oscar Party at Lure, Sunday, February 24, 2013, in Los Angeles, California. (Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)

Rupert Makes the News—Literally

Rupert Murdoch is already the most powerful media man in the world, and he is eager to use—and abuse—that power everywhere he can.

Eric Alterman

Neoconservatism on the Decline Article
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA) appears during the 40th annual Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, March 16, 2013. (AP/Carolyn Kaster)

Neoconservatism on the Decline

Neoconservatism’s roots are being pulled up by the likes of Rand Paul and Ted Cruz.

Eric Alterman

The Nonexistent ‘Center’ Folds Article
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), accompanied by Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn (R-TX), speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP/J. Scott Applewhite)

The Nonexistent ‘Center’ Folds

There is no "center" in Washington, and the pundits who pretend to be fighting for the middle are misleading themselves and the rest of us.

Eric Alterman

Mainstream Media Refuses to Recognize the Elephant in the Room Article
Members of the

Mainstream Media Refuses to Recognize the Elephant in the Room

Republican recalcitrance frames virtually every political issue in Washington these days, except in the reporting of those same incidents by the mainstream media.

Eric Alterman

Have Progressives Abandoned Economic Liberalism? Article
In this 2010 photo, a foreclosed house is shown in Lee County, Florida. Working American families continue to struggle, but without sufficient media coverage to document it. (AP/Chris O'Meara)

Have Progressives Abandoned Economic Liberalism?

America continues to experience exploding inequality that threatens both our democracy and the very fabric of our society, without much attention from the mainstream media.

Eric Alterman

Kurtz Joining Fox News Comes As No Surprise Article
This April 25, 2012, file photo shows journalist Howard Kurtz at the world premiere of

Kurtz Joining Fox News Comes As No Surprise

The fact that media pundit Howard Kurtz, formerly of CNN, has landed at Fox was preordained with the only question being why it took so long.

Eric Alterman

The Mainstream Media Needs to Break Its Addiction to the Drudge Report Article
Internet writer Matt Drudge meets reporters outside federal court in Washington on March 11, 1998, after a preliminary hearing on a $30 million defamation suit filed against him by former White House aide Sidney Blumenthal. (AP/Brian K. Diggs)

The Mainstream Media Needs to Break Its Addiction to the Drudge Report

Despite the fact that anyone with Internet access can publish “news” online, we should be more cautious about sources such as the Drudge Report that tend toward the outlandish.

Eric Alterman

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