[mojito]

From Punch to Pinch.

How the mighty have fallen.

[Cicero]

The Nixon administration handled the Pentagon papers really stupidly.

Unlike most people, I read the whole thing, which appeared as a large supplement in the Times.

The ONLY really disturbing thing I found in it was that JFK gave the order to assassinate the President of South Vietnam. Not Nixon, but JFK, who was worried that he would be blamed for defending a fellow Catholic against Buddhist protests.

That was the decision that turned the war around and lost it for us. There was NOTHING in those papers that made Nixon look bad.

Sure, the Times should not have published confidential war documents. But Nixon should not have let the Times put all the blame be put on him. JFK was a shining Camelot hero who was worshipped by the whole country, which had been fooled by the lying press, which covered up all his sins, political incompetence, and other weaknesses. The fact that he had ordered the assassination was right there in black and white, but was never openly discussed. And hardly anybody troubled to read the entire Pentagon Papers. They took the press’s word for it that Nixon was entirely to blame for everything.

[A_Former_Democrat]

Just amazes me how anyone, especially Jewish, could serve in the military, see the horrors of WW II, especially the Holocaust, then support policies leading to centralized governments and idol worship of politicians.

[free-in-nyc]

For those interested in reading more about the decline of the Times, this is an excellent book:

Gray Lady Down
What the Decline and Fall of the New York Times Means for America
By William McGowan

In Gray Lady Down, William McGowan asks who is responsible for squandering the finest legacy in American journalism. Combining original reporting, critical assessment and analysis, McGowan exposes the Times’ obsessions with diversity, soft pop cultural news, and countercultural Vietnam-era attitudinizing, and reveals how these trends have set America’s most important news icon at odds with its journalistic mission—and with the values and perspectives of much of mainstream America.

http://www.encounterbooks.com/books/gray-lady-down-what-the-decline-and-fall-of-the-new-york-times-means-for-america/?tab=overview

[ops33]

“These days one newspaper empire after another is sold off because the next generation is no longer interested in running it. Which is sad, especially for the next generation of readers. But there are so many easier and more profitable ways to invest a fortune than fighting to keep a newspaper alive.”

What a load of crapola. Newspapers are dieing, news is thriving.