As galling as it may be for some readers to see how major mainstream media outlets are framing the Alito confirmation, the broader problem has been the failure of well-to-do liberals and progressive foundations to finance a media infrastructure that can act as a counterweight to the right-wing media machine, according to Robert Parry at ConsortiumNews.Com.

Needless to say again, here at The Locust Fork we agree…

Heed this essay of utter importance in these times that try MORE than men’s souls…

Wake up and save the American Dream

by Glynn Wilson

by Glynn Wilson

A Bad Sign: Bye, bye freedoms, bye, bye…

Editor’s Note: This may be the longest blog post in the short history of blogs. So be it. It is about time we moved beyond the snarky little commentaries about items already in the news and begun to make a substantial contribution to the literature on where we go from here with Web publishing, the press in America and government policy itself. If you consider yourself to be a liberal, a progressive, an independent or a libertarian, there is an understandable and comprehensive message here for you. If you are a frustrated Democrat or a disillusioned Republican, you will find answers here as well.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Jan. 23, 2006 – It is a simple idea to sum up, really.

In case you have been living in a bubble and somehow failed to notice, these are times that try not only the souls of human beings everywhere. These are times that try our patience on almost a daily basis – unless you are on Xanex four times a day and live in a plantation or in the White House and focus all of your attention on the sports and religion news.

We are in a battle today between the descendants of the Son’s of Liberty on one hand, who did more than dump tea in Boston Harbor to bring about the American Revolution, and the descendants of British Loyalists on the other side, who would never have supported the American Revolution in the first instance.

We are a nation and a people at risk of being the last souls on earth to live under and enjoy the benefits of government of the people, self-government, democracy. We may be in the last days of human survival on planet earth – and not because of any biblical prophesy or just because of global warming.
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Just as I was about to shut down the computer for the night, I caught Tim Russert’s interview with historian David McCullough on MSNBC. He has a new book out, inspired to teach kids about history aftrer 9/11, called 1776: Washington’s War.

It’s not just about George Washington’s war against the British. It is how he played to the British before and after the war, and how he graciously agreed to give up the power he could have had as America’s king at that time, how he stepped aside and allowed others to take power and learn how to govern this new democratic republic.

It also details the role of others in the movement for a Declaration of Independence, including Thomas Paine.

If you are interested, The New Yorker review is now online – for free:

In the year 1776, character was destiny.

If you never watch C-SPAN on the weekends, you are missing something. Just watched an interview with Harvey J. Kaye, the Rosenberg Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin, Green Bay, and the author of Thomas Paine and the Promise of America.

NYT Book Review: Founding Father of the American Left

Kaye makes a spirited argument that Paine merits a place on the Mall in Washington, D.C., or the Tidal Basin, as the only authentically radical voice, the only true social democrat of his day, the only patriotic prophet whose vision remains relevant and resonant for our time.

If the criteria were exclusively journalistic, the reviewer writes, Paine’s status would be assured. In 1774 this working-class unknown from London, uneducated and a former corset maker, arrived in Philadelphia. Less than two years later he did what every American journalist since then has dreamed of doing: changing the course of history with a piece of writing. His Common Sense (1776) galvanized popular opinion around the idea that American independence was not impossible, but indeed inevitable.

In the C-SPAN interview, a more conservative reviewer made the exchange provocative, so much so that I will get my hands on a copy Monday.