I was pleased to see another new voice in The Daily Cougar, "Point/Counterpoint: Post-Election Palin" (Tuesday, Opinion). That’s always wonderful to see. I wish perhaps that she had been able to say more, but a lot of it was, I think, legitimate political opinion-rendering. (If you think it was nasty, you should look at the campaign with Andrew Jackson).
But one thing was interesting to me. Melissa Grosse mentions, near the end of her column, the following: "Since when did reading Time or the New York Times qualify anyone for anything but indoctrination?"
Granted that the New York Times is based in New York, a relatively "left wing" state, and to some extent reflects that tilt despite the best efforts of journalistic integrity. But Time magazine? The same Time magazine that arguably led to our lack of engagement with mainland China for 20 or 30 years? The same Time magazine that was indeed founded in part to protest President Franklin Delano Roosevelt? That Time magazine?
I believe there is a list of what is an approved, "non-indoctrinating" periodical or writing, and I would appreciate it very much if Grosse could share it with us in a future article. I would note, however, that there are maddening hints that such figures in the past as Thomas Jefferson and George Washington may have held distinctly left-wing sentiments – and besides, they are from what is now a "blue" state. And as such, their works should perhaps be put on the list of "Forbidden Writings." But there are many other fine publications that will provide us with a clear and unbiased perspective on the day’s events; I, for one, am fond of the old Pravda.
Tom Pile
history senior
