I have not read a line of President Jimmy Carter’s book, only the title, “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.” Nor can I vouch for his analysis of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; critics say he gets some things wrong and that may be. But with the press standing idly by, Carter is generally criticized and accused of anti-Semitism [...]

I doubt if many of our colleagues in the press have noticed that the Bush administration, with the aid of the last Republican congress, began on January 1 an unprecedented invasion of the privacy of some 43 million older and disabled Americans, beneficiaries of Medicare. That most of the press did not notice is understandable. [...]

As far as I can tell, among all the briefings, press conferences and punditry, only the liberal Center for American Progress made the connection between the Iraq Study Group and the primary reason for its existence. On the day the group made its report, the center noted, 10 more Americans met violent deaths in Iraq. [...]

There is at least one more important matter that reporters with too little memory ought to know about before they cover the hearings for Robert Gates, the nominee for Defense Secretary: He almost cost us the end of the cold war. That may be a bit of hyperbole, but it’s not far wrong. Gates, for [...]

As a former White House correspondent, I know there is an understanding among reporters that questions and stories about the president’s children are out of bounds. But this is wartime, Americans are getting killed and maimed along with the innocents in Iraq, so I think it is not out of line to note that the [...]

One large problem with self-appointed commentators is that often they don’t know what they’re talking about, and their interviewers are equally dumb on the subject. For the right-wingers on Fox News, that may be deliberate. But in this case, I don’t think so, because I’ve heard others make the same mistake. During a Nov. 21 [...]

It didn’t take long for the conventional wise guys of the media to jump on Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass) for speaking the truth, however awkwardly. But the media types didn’t bother looking where they were jumping. Kerry, addressing a crowd of students, told them something they very well understand: “Education, if you make the most [...]

I propose that journalists who are pressed to use shorthand words to save space, and thus avoid complicated ideas, should be very suspicious of venerating as political virtues such simplistic expressions as “bipartisan,” “moderate” and “centrist.” These are said to be positive political attributes, the opposite of the more negative terms “partisan,” “extreme,” or “ideological.” [...]

When is the last time you heard someone in the well-heeled White House press corps ask the president or one of his flacks a question on behalf of older Americans? If you can’t remember, neither can I. And on behalf of older people I’ve been paying attention. But they should be asking penetrating questions on [...]

I know the White House press and the press secretary are busy with other subjects, like nukes in North Korea, and the Foley Follies. And as Walter Lippmann observed, the press too often can shine its light on only one thing at a time. But as someone who attended many a White House and State [...]