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Tag: WSJ
WSJ Pushes Back Against its Own Staff
For the past year, we have reluctantly continued to subscribe to the Wall Street Journal, even as we’ve watched its news section become increasingly progressive in its views. But we’ve always liked the Opinion page and appreciate the excellent journalism of Bill McGurn, Holman Jenkins, Dan Henninger, and especially Kimberley Strassel. I just learned, however, that 280 of the WSJ news staffers criticized the Opinion editors for not reflecting a “woke” mentality, and their letter was also “leaked.” The leaked letter is in the form of a tweet in this article, and difficult to read in this form, but you are welcome to try. Here is part of the editors’ response:
It was probably inevitable that the wave of progressive cancel culture would arrive at the Journal, as it has at nearly every other cultural, business, academic and journalistic institution. But we are not the New York Times. Most Journal reporters attempt to cover the news fairly and down the middle, and our opinion pages offer an alternative to the uniform progressive views that dominate nearly all of today’s media. [italics mine]
I haven’t actually analyzed the news sections of the WSJ to determine if most of their journalists try to cover the news fairly, because the exceptions are so glaring. But I was especially impressed with other things the Opinion editors said:
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https://www.wsj.com/articles/herd-immunity-may-be-closer-than-you-think-11594076237 Preview Open

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https://www.wsj.com/articles/psst-i-want-you-to-illegally-immigrate-11582849036? WSJ editorial headline is Preview Open

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https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704881304576094221050061598 The State Against Blacks ‘The welfare state has done to black Americans what slavery couldn’t do. . . . And that is to destroy the black family.’ Sometimes I sarcastically, perhaps cynically, say that I’m glad that I received virtually all of my education before it became fashionable for white people to like black […]

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An ancient adage has it that everything Trump touches dies. No better example of the truth of this assertion can be provided than that of Rudolph William Louis Giuliani, who was once a respected, indeed revered character within the GOP with a fabulous résumé filled with accomplishments and honors. Sad to say, those days are […]

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He is more cynical than I am! Cynicism is a feature not a bug. Border Dilemmas Are the Same for Trump or Obama Two global news agencies withdraw a story when they realize it scandalized the wrong president. Don’t doubt the special iniquity of the current U.S. administration when it comes to the problem of illegal […]

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Thanks to James Freeman of the Wall Street Journal (in his Best of the Web newsletter yesterday) for excerpting this “Pravda on the Hudson”, AKA New York Times, Op-Ed, by someone called Todd May. The title of the column is “Would Human Extinction be a Tragedy?” Emphasis mine. One might ask here whether…it would…be a […]

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We all make mistakes, even the editors at the New York Times (if any). Let’s start with an fascinating apology from the Lewiston Morning Tribune in Washington state: Preview Open

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Some Thoughts on Conservative Reform
National Review’s Rich Lowry points out this odd WSJ editorial regarding Paul Ryan’s speech last week:
This isn’t enough for Mr. Ryan’s critics, and readers should understand their self-serving motives. For progressives, the goal is to use Mr. Trump as a wedge to produce even wider GOP divisions and drive a stake in Mr. Ryan’s politics of growth and upward mobility. … On the other side are a cast of conservative intellectuals who don’t like Mr. Ryan because he continues to believe in the Ronald Reagan-Jack Kemp vision of a tax-reforming, free-market GOP that focuses on economic growth. They think the GOP needs a policy mix to address income inequality and promote redistribution—albeit to the middle class—rather than aiming for faster growth …
They’d love to volunteer Mr. Ryan for a kamikaze political mission that leaves someone else to pick up the rubble in 2020. This year most of this crowd wanted Marco Rubio, who adopted many of their ideas, but perhaps you don’t recall how “wage enhancement” and a new $2,500 tax credit for children stirred the masses. Mr. Ryan is doing fine on his own and he can afford to ignore this left-right advice. The Speaker hasn’t hesitated to condemn Mr. Trump’s bad ideas on the merits as they arise, including his Muslim travel ban. But Mr. Ryan also has other obligations, not least protecting the GOP from larger damage this election year. …
Let Chaos Reign!
Why have “controlled” debates at all? Curt Anderson, in today’s WSJ, suggests that we just let the candidates debate each other whenever and wherever they like.
The Republican Party should be looking forward instead of backward—and seeking every opportunity to feature its roster of excellent candidates, rather than trying to find ways to constrict the field. The voters will do that, as is their prerogative. The simple truth is that competitive primaries usually make a party stronger, not weaker.
He continues:
States’ Rights in Three Minutes!
To mark the launch of my new book, A Less Perfect Union: The Case for States’ Rights, the good people over at the Wall Street Journal had me in for an interview with Mary Kissel on the Opinion Journal show. Here’s the clip – it’s only three minutes (about as long as it takes to recite Congress’s enumerated powers) – but gives a good overview of the book.