False Equivalence and Republican obstructionism

James Fallows

James Fallows is good on China and anything to do with airplanes. And he's particularly good and important now on the False Equivalence that the media is routinely using to describe radical Republican obstructionism in congress:

Your False-Equivalence Guide to the Days Ahead

As a matter of journalism, any story that presents the disagreements as a "standoff," a "showdown," a "failure of leadership," a sign of "partisan gridlock," or any of the other usual terms for political disagreement, represents a failure of journalism and an inability to see or describe what is going on. For instance: the "dig in their heels" headline you see below, which is from a proprietary newsletter I read this morning, and about which I am leaving off the identifying details.

This isn't "gridlock." It is a ferocious struggle within one party, between its traditionalists and its radical factions, with results that unfortunately can harm all the rest of us---and, should there be a debt default, could harm the rest of the world too.

See this morning's SF Chronicle editorial, where you read "Despite bluster and delaying tactics in Washington..." The Chronicle is too coy to tell us who exactly is blustering and delaying/obstructing the normal operation of our national government because...?

Thanks to the Daily Kos.