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Anyone who wants to know how seriously The Politico has disturbed the MSM principalities and powers need only click here and read the massive (go get a beverage) New York Times Magazine profile of the cyberscribe Mike “Playbook” Allen, the human alarm clock who helps drive life here inside the Beltway.
While with The Oklahoman, I covered the state prison system for a while and served as a media witness for three or four executions (yes, it’s sad to say I can’t remember which, but as a reporter, I tried not to dwell on such experiences).
I knew the kerfuffle over Arizona’s tough new immigration law had to be choc-o-bloc full of religious ghosts, and I kept waiting for this angle to work its way into the coverage of the topic. Well, Cardinal Mahony of the Los Angeles diocese decided to kick start things a bit, as you can probably tell from this Associated Press headline:
I know some of you are tired of reading about the Vatican, clergy sexual abuse and, of course, the mainstream coverage of all of that.
This may be the pickiest post I have ever written, but, hey, the mountains of North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee are my favorite place on earth, so please allow me to share a news-related chuckle with the locals.
Let’s start with a bit of background. Last week, a federal judge ruled that a law authorizing a National Day of Prayer is unconstitutional. That day is marked in early May and observances can continue until all appeals are exhausted. There’s a group called the National Day of Prayer Task Force. It focuses on Christian events and they worked with the Pentagon chaplain’s office on a National Day of Prayer event to be held next month. They had invited noted Christian evangelist Franklin Graham to give a prayer. Mikey Weinstein, who runs the Military Religious Freedom Foundation and was also in the news years ago when he fought evangelical influences at the United States Air Force Academy, complained about his invitation and by Thursday, the invitation was rescinded. (And I’m not sure if it’s coincidence or not, but President Barack Obama is actually meeting with Franklin Graham and his more famous father, the Rev. Billy Graham, today!)
Anyone who picked up a major newspaper today knows that one of the hot stories on the other side of the Atlantic is the resignation of Bishop Roger Vangheluwe of Brugge, Belgium — the latest star to fall in the current wave of clergy sexual abuse scandals in the Catholic Church.
As the Supreme Court nomination anticipation heats up, Dahlia Lithwick’s piece for Slate reads more like a sigh than anything else. Lithwick suggested that the short lists everyone keeps writing about don’t tell us very much except what people–media included–expect to see the next fight over the court.
It would be an understatement of epic proportions to say that Baltimore is slightly obsessed with the Ravens, its NFL franchise in the tortured era after the sinful betrayal that cost the city the Colts.
