March 25, 2013

Poll: When It Comes To Drones, Most Americans Say ‘Fight Them Over There’

A new Gallup poll shows a strong majority of Americans (65%) support drone “airstrikes in other countries against suspected terrorists.” President George W. Bush was wrong about a lot of things, but he tapped into a sentiment that many Americans feel (right or wrong), that they would rather take out perceived enemies on foreign soil. Bush famously said we would fight the terrorist “over there” so we don’t have to fight them “over here.” And who wouldn’t want their enemies vanquished in some far away land, out of sight, out of mind? As for collateral damage — well, we are at war, right? A one-state war against a tactic, not a nation or an army, but that’s just semantics, right?

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February 7, 2013

Bill O’Reilly Says NBC News Is “Protecting The President” By Not Covering Drones

Last night Bill O’Reilly was even more dishonest than usual when he claimed NBC News was not covering the Obama administration’s drone policy. Never mind that Michael Isikoff broke the story for NBC. Never mind that MSNBC had ample coverage of the story on afternoon and prime time shows like The Rachel Maddow Show. And never mind that the “No Spin Zone” is actually a front for all spin, all the time. To be fair to O’Reilly, maybe he wasn’t dishonest, maybe he just didn’t care to check. On his way to fulfilling a pre-existing narrative, O’Reilly managed to fool himself.

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September 26, 2012

How A Liberal Can Support Obama Despite Moral Concerns

Conor Friedersdorf wrote a piece in The Atlantic outlining on ethical and moral terms, why he refuses to vote for Barack Obama. And I agree with just about everything he says, except not supporting President Obama. — He lays out his case citing Obama’s reckless use of drone strikes and targeted killings of American citizens without trial. President Obama should not be above the law. We said the same thing about George W. Bush. Friedersdorf admits that he likes Obama, finds him engaging as a speaker, but the following three facts make it impossible for him to vote for Obama:

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