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Smugglers are heroes of sorts. The essence of what a smuggler offers is: "Government tyrants want to either prevent or interfere with peaceable voluntary exchange among individuals. I can reduce the impact of that interference." Let's look at smuggling, keeping in mind that not everything illegal is immoral and not everything legal is moral. Leading up to our War of Independence, the British…

It's always a bit of risk saying that a bunch of supposedly smart folks are wrong, but the economists Jeannine Aversa at the Associated Press consulted for a Tuesday afternoon report on the economic outlook must be taking a double dose of sunshine pills every day. If we are to believe these folks, the only thing that can stop the economy now is oil -- not the $112 a barrel accompanied by $4…

A few hours after PBS's Tavis Smiley predicted on MSNBC that the upcoming presidential race will be the most racist in American history, Ed Schultz said the Republican Party stands for racism. The host of the "Ed Show" also proclaimed, "I think Donald Trump is a racist" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

Tavis Smiley on Tuesday said the upcoming presidential race is "going to be the ugliest, the nastiest, the most divisive, and the most racist in the history of this republic." When MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell asked his guest on "The Last Word" why he thought so, the PBS host predictably blamed it all on the Tea Party and Donald Trump (video follows with transcript and commentary):

In the Bush years, poll results that showed the American people losing confidence in their president were featured routinely on the front page of major newspapers like The Washington Post. But when the Post discovers Obama’s ratings collapsing, you need a search party to find where inside the paper they’re buried. On April 26, the Post offered three stories on polls, each with bad news for…

For weeks MSNBC's Chris Matthews has been complaining about the lack of declared GOP presidential candidates. On Tuesday's "Hardball," former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele exposed Matthews' hypocrisy concerning this matter marvelously demonstrating that once any of the possible candidates formally enters the race, the avowed liberal commentator is just going to trash…

A British media outlet's profile of MSNBC's Rachel Maddow is generating considerable buzz for a specific remark she made, though another is equally curious. In response to a question from The Guardian's Hadley Freeman, Maddow said gays in the media whom she did not identify should come out of the closet. Here's how it was reported by Freeman --

The New York Times announced its first quarter 2010 results on Thursday. As is the case with most companies when they would rather not talk about the bottom line, the Times instead concentrated on its "operating profit." A detailed look at the release reveals a group of contracting, money-losing journalistic endeavors propped up by an also-shrinking Internet enterprise. Here are the first…

A new poll finds one out of 10 Egyptians are sympathetic to Islamic "fundamentalists," 75 percent have a positive view of the Muslim Brotherhood, and 79 percent have a "very" or "somewhat unfavorable" view of the United States. But Washington Post's Michael Birnbaum seems to portray this data as of little concern (emphasis mine):

NPR's Renee Montagne apparently didn't take an alleged death threat seriously, as she practically chuckled during a report on Friday's Morning Edition about anti-Koch brothers protesters mistakenly calling a Des Moines, Iowa business named Koch Brothers office supplies. Substitute co-host Mary Louise Kelly, noted that "Charles and David Koch are the billionaire owners of a giant industrial…

Time magazine is so biased that it even slams conservative Christians in the letters to the editor. Former Newsweek editor Jon Meacham's piece on pastor Rob Bell asking "Is Hell Dead?" apparently drew only one letter of opposition worth printing. Here's the one Time put in bold, large type: "Hell is easy to define. It would be spending eternity with evangelicals." -- Don Koons, DALLAS…

It's now official. Katie Couric is leaving the HMS "Evening News" on a life raft, having skillfully piloted the newscast to lower ratings depths during her time at the helm. Equally liberal "60 Minutes" co-host Scott Pelley will likely take the conn, the New York Daily News is reporting:

ABC's Jon Karl on Monday railed against the "obscene" profits of the oil companies and demanded to know what House Speaker John Boehner plans to do about it.  World News anchor Diane Sawyer alerted viewers that "the five behemoths of the oil industry" are announcing record profits this week. Using a highly judgmental word, Karl complained to Boehner, "Is there something obscene about gas…

The New York Times offered a distorted glimpse into the prison at Guantanamo Bay and the Bush administration's treatment of suspected terrorists in a series of reports published on Sunday and Monday. Scouring hundreds of leaked military documents, Times reporters used emotionally-charged phrases and cherry-picked anecdotes to paint an unflattering picture of the facility that has jailed…