Few progressives would take issue with the argument that, significant accomplishments notwithstanding, the Obama presidency has been a big disappointment. Eric Alterman More Quotes by Eric Alterman More Quotes From Eric Alterman Fox News is nothing if not impressive. No matter how harsh the criticism it endures, the network somehow always manages to prove itself even worse than we had previously imagined. Eric Alterman news criticism matter To become informed and hold government accountable, the general public needs to obtain news that is comprehensive yet interesting and understandable, that conveys facts and outcomes, not cosmetic images and airy promises. But that is not what the public demands. Eric Alterman media-control government interesting Face it, the system is rigged, and it's rigged against us. Eric Alterman rigged faces Over one in five American children is living in poverty, and the number is rising. Eric Alterman rising numbers children America's great newspapers have staffs that range from 50 percent to 70 percent of what they were just a few years ago. Eric Alterman range america years The myth of the liberal media empowers conservatives to control debate in the United States to the point where liberals cannot even hope for a fair shake anymore. Eric Alterman empowering united-states media Trends in circulation and advertising - the rise of the Internet, which has made the daily newspaper look slow and unresponsive; the advent of Craigslist, which is wiping out classified advertising-have created a palpable sense of doom. Eric Alterman wiping-out trends looks Philosophers and theologians have argued for centuries over the morality of targeted assassinations - a technique that the Israelis use with some frequency - without ever reaching anything approaching consensus. Eric Alterman morality technique use Veteran print editors and reporters at places like the 'Times' and 'The New Yorker' manage to feed and clothe their families without costing their companies a million bucks a month, and they produce a great deal more valuable reporting and analysis than the network news stars do. Eric Alterman analysis editors stars Much of what Tea Party candidates claimed about the world and the global economy during the 2010 elections would have earned their adherents a well-deserved F in any freshman economics (or earth science) class. Eric Alterman party tea class The war on terrorism was a bait and switch operation. Eric Alterman bait terrorism war Ironically, tendency to ignore inconvenient facts and unwelcome evidence is actually President Reagan's true legacy, as I noted in 'The Nation' back in 2000, before the current right-wing mania for President Reagan gained its full force. Eric Alterman president wings facts Warren Buffett pays taxes on a smaller percentage of his billions in income than his cleaning lady. Eric Alterman cleaning income pay The Economist is undoubtedly the smartest weekly newsmagazine in the English language. I always look forward to its quirky year-end double issue. Eric Alterman year-end issues years Stylistically speaking, Barack Obama could hardly be further from Jimmy Carter if he really had been born in Kenya. Eric Alterman kenya carter born Liberals believe that they can't get a fair shake from the media anymore. Eric Alterman shakes media believe For the past eight years, the right has been better at working the refs. Now the left is learning how to play the game. Eric Alterman eight past years If bloggers are to improve our public discourse - helping busy and usually uninformed people make sense of the world - it is necessary to use some sort of standard with which to judge their reliability. Perhaps the answer (strictly advisory) is a body of their peers. Perhaps not. Eric Alterman peers judging people President Obama has lowered taxes more than he has raised them, and they are today lower than they were in President Reagan's time. But you don't hear conservatives crowing about that. Eric Alterman taxes president today Americans get mad as hell with reasonable frequency but quickly return to their families and sitcoms. Eric Alterman hell mad return
