Fairness - The Commentary

There’s no doubt about it now: November 6 th gave us a blue wave. And the more the votes are counted, the bluer it gets. From local races to state legislatures, to gubernatorial and state-wide office flips, to unprecedented gains in the US House, to progressive ballot initiatives around the nation, the increased voter turnout reminds us again that what has been called “leftist” by an influential right-wing machine is actually centrist American with overwhelming popular support. So much of mainstream corporate media prefers not to analyze it that way because it wants to play up some sort of viewer-attention-getting battle between extremes. The media has accepted as given what playwright Tony Kushner observed years ago: "The terms of the national debate have subtly, insidiously shifted. What used to be called liberal is now called radical; what used to be called radical is now called insane. What used to be called reactionary is now called moderate, and what use...

An old piece of relationship advice begins this way: “If your brother sins, go and show him privately his fault. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be confirmed by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’” Even though that’s from the eighteenth chapter of the Christian Gospel of Matthew, I’ve known Christian clergy who don’t follow that wise advice. Instead they practice what many do in a variety of human relationships – triangulate. As a concept, triangulation originated in research and discussions about dysfunctional families. Parents might often complain to a child about their spouse, for example, bringing the child into the adults’ problem. But it applies quite often within numerous friendly, romantic, social, and business relationships. And it has helped bring down some very good organizations from churches to non-profits. Someone has something against...