The NY Times is shocked, shocked!, that political opponents are digitally removed from state-controlled Russian TV. Do I find the Kremlin’s practice disgusting? Yes. But I also see the hyprocrisy of the whole story.
First, we enlightened Americans also have state-controlled media. NPR and PBS come to mind; but they’re good. We have convinced ourselves that they can never be used for propaganda the way the less-enlightened fascists and tyrants have done in far away places.
Second, I seem to remember that during the Presidential debates that certain candidates – Ron Paul, Mike Gravel, Tom Tancredo, Dennis Kucinich, etc – were put off screen for the majority of the debates, if not excluded entirely. I don’t remember the NY Times complaining then!
1:04 pm on June 3, 2008
