In Which Jung prewrites AtD's epigraph

[David Morris]

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2012_03/false_equivalence_watch_richar036022.php

James Fallows, Jonathan Chait and others have done much to open our
eyes to the wondrous breadth and diversity of false equivalence in
American journalism—that is, the media’s insistent efforts to match
any mention of egregious lying by a member of one political party with
an example from the other party, no matter how mild or incomparable,
in order to avoid charges of “bias.” As someone who has dabbled in
this field of press criticism, I fancy myself having a pretty good eye
for new varieties of the phenomenon, and, in all modesty, think I’ve
discovered one.

It can be found in Richard Cohen’s Washington Post column today,
entitled “Sarah Palin’s Foolishness Ruined U.S. Politics,” about the
HBO movie “Game Change.” Cohen documents how the aggressive ignorance
and petulant truth denial exhibited by John McCain’s 2008 running mate
seems to have paved the way for similar candidates in the 2012 race,
among them Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann, and Rick Perry, with Rick
Santorum [...] By the end of the column Cohen raises the (for him, I
guess) uncomfortable fact that all of his examples come from the
Republican side of the aisle. And it is here, in a feat of remarkable
imagination, that Cohen deploys what I believe to be (and
professionals in the field, please correct me if I’m wrong) a
never-before-seen version of the genre, one that might be called the
If-Not-Now-Then-Later False Equivalence:

"So far, the Palin effect has been limited to the GOP. Surely, though,
there lurks in the Democratic Party potential candidates who have seen
Palin and taken note. Experience, knowledge, accomplishment—these no
longer may matter. They will come roaring out of the left proclaiming
a hatred of all things Washington, including compromise. The movie had
it right. Sarah Palin changed the game."

On Thu, Mar 15, 2012 at 1:51 PM, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:
> One of the biggest lies promoted by the media is the false equivalency which says
> "both sides do it," which excuses all manner of lies.