This is the time of the year the government perpetuates a problem for millions of Americans, and most of the press goes along because of its superficial knowledge. The issue is Medicare Part D, which too few of my colleagues in the press know about. Each year since the Part D drug benefit, passed by [...]

Now that the national party conventions are history the biggest remaining political shows are the debates. The three presidential contests kick off Sept. 26 and conclude Oct. 15. The vice-presidential candidates go at it Oct. 2. I have a bit of time, therefore, to debate with myself about whether to watch any of it. Debates [...]

Am I the only person in America who thinks Sarah Palin is SCARY? That she is a female candidate for vice-president may be different and interesting, but it is a distraction from the essential question: What kind of president would she be if called on to fill that high office? Briefly unleashed from McCain’s apron [...]

Ordinarily, the obituary of a former United States Senator is unlikely to merit more than passing attention, but when it happens to be written by the chief political strategist of an existing Presidential campaign, that’s different. The obituary in the July 11 issue of Time is written by Charlie Black, and the candidate he now [...]

The CBS Evening News on Saturday, July 19, had an important segment devoted to people who were losing their homes because they had been misled into accepting risky mortgages. Yet not once during the program was the question raised about prosecuting the crooks — for that’s what they are — who tricked them into their [...]

At the Knight-Ridder Washington Bureau, where I worked for a time, there was a photograph on the wall of my first bureau chief, the late and legendary newsman from Chicago, Ed Lahey, with his memorable words of advice: “Do not fawn upon the mighty.” That comes to mind when I read transcripts of presidential news [...]

“Say it Ain’t So, Joe” was the legendary plea of a young fan when famed baseball hero, Shoeless Joe Jackson, testified to his part in throwing the games during the great Chicago Black Sox scandal of 1919. (The boy apparently was more grammatical and said “it isn’t so, is it Joe?” but media hype being [...]

Maybe it’s just the fact that I’ve got some plaque in my arteries, too, but Tim Russert’s tragic and untimely death at age 58 raises some unsettling questions that it seems to me the media should be exploring. The first is: Why should we have any confidence in our health care system? Isn’t it time [...]

This week, like most weeks, “On the Media” got letters accusing us of bias against the Bush Administration. And, as also often enough takes place, the accusation triggered some heated exchanges on our Web site’s comments section. Usually, I don’t intervene, but this time I weighed in, too – responding most especially to the charge [...]

At Tuesday’s Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing — entitled “Coercive Interrogation Techniques: Do They Work, Are They Reliable, and What Did the FBI Know About Them?” — former FBI interrogator John E. Cloonan raised some important questions — questions the press should be asking, as well as the senators. From his opening comments: There are 3 [...]