US & Middle East Opinion: Sense and Sensibility About Al Jazeera America

Al Jazeera's news comes with a vantage point and a set of interests, as is the case with all media outlets. The discerning viewer certainly has much to gain by watching it, but liberals should be careful to avoid the assumption that the enemy of Pam Geller is necessarily a friend.

There is little doubt that Al Jazeera’s astounding $500 million bid for Current TV was motivated in part because the latter’s liberal viewers were the most likely American constituency to give the Arab giant a chance. And a chance --- rather than an unquestioning devotion --- is exactly what it deserves.

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US Politics: Government Spending, Ethanol, and the Republican Dilemma

During the recent controversy within the Republican Party over a ban on "earmark" funding, Senator Jim DeMint, the leading advocate of the moratorium, was able to call upon the support of a host of Tea Party and conservative blogs.

Now the battle gets specific. As DeMint turns his attention to the specific issue of subsidies for corn, media on the Right have been much quieter. At stake in the upcoming debate over the extension of tax credits for the use of ethanol (corn alcohol) in fuel are the same principles that drove the earmark battles, but this time politicians  in corn-producing states may find themselves opposing a cut in Government spending.

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