Article: There is a Problem at the Post

This is not a piece about horse racing. It is about the formerly trustworthy newspaper, The Washington Post. The Saturday edition of the Post is unlikely to attract as much attention as Monday's or Sunday's, but the point that "news" items are put on the front (online) page that are not really news or that are gross distortions, is more than just disturbing. The top article on my Post newsletter is the remarkable piece: "Obama's New Tack: Blaming Bush." First, this is not "news" it is opinion or at best "analysis." It is disingenuous in the extreme. The use of the word "tack" suggests an irregular path forced by circumstances (winds of politics). Read the article and see if you can find any news. But the more important item is the third item in the newletter, "China Worried About U.S. Debt: Biggest Creditor Nation Demands a Guarantee". The word "demand" is used twice before you can exhale. Notably, the New York Times does not use that word in its article to describe Chinese comments about the U.S. monetary and fiscal policies. The word "demand" is a term of art in geopolitics, and when one nation "demands" something of another nation, the implication is ... "or else." The situation vis-a-vis China with U.S. Treasury bills is that China, like everyone else understands that the safest place on earth for excess cash is exactly that—U.S. T-Bills. They did not demand that the U.S. guarantee anything; they know better than to posture like that. They did say they were worried, and that comes as no surprise to anyone. We are all worried. The Post needs to fire a few people. The editorial board has been truculent, militaristic, and decidedly skeptical about the Obama Administration. Perhaps they have received some slight from the White House Press Secretary, or at least perceive that they have. I think, though, that the situation is that the Post is, like the Republican Party in general, lost. They have no idea where the middle is. They have no idea what competent journalism in hard times should be. They need to be taken down a notch or two. (And watch what they do to Newsweek soon. You will be appalled.) JB