"Any conversation about political polarization would be incomplete without a
look at the media's role in shaping opinions. From my view on the front lines, I
have seen a rapid escalation of extreme dialogue -- sadly, something sure to
guarantee high ratings. Indeed,
Campbell Brown's departure from her CNN show
last month marks
another tombstone in the graveyard of moderate, thoughtful analysis."
The New York Times this morning has a particularly lush installment of one of the American media's most favored, reliable, and self-affirming rituals -- it's time to mock and pity Those Crazy, Primitive, Irrational, Propagandized Muslims and their Wild Conspiracy Theories, which their reckless media and extremists maliciously disseminate in order to generate unfair and unfounded hostility toward the U.S.: