video

On Fox News Sunday today, Chris Wallace suggested to former Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff that airport screenings should be less universal and more targeted because “there are obviously people who are greater threats and people who are lesser threats.”

video

Having a news cycle dominated by an ecological disaster in Louisiana and an airline terror plot is resulting in some major cable news deja vu. Joining former FEMA director Michael Brown in returning to the airwaves is former Bush administration Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, who explained to Fox News’ Jane Skinner earlier today that Times Square bomb suspect Faisal Shahzad managed get on a plane to Dubai with cash because it’s the airlines’ responsibility to screen the no-fly list, and they were hesitant to turn the authority over to the TSA.

video

Interesting exchange on Meet the Press yesterday regarding the increase in “revolutionary talk” around the country in the aftermath of the health care vote. In a discussion about home grown terror and the level of incendiary rhetoric plaguing parts of Washington Rep Jane Harman (D-CA) noted that one of the most troubling things about the Hutatree Militia’s plans was that they were “going to import the terror tactics used by al-Qaeda and other groups.”

The reason conflicts of interest are disclosed isn’t to give carte blanche for writing about things in which you have a vested economic interest – it’s to assure that, in the event a conflict is inescapable and may color a reader’s view of the piece, it isn’t ignored. Check Washington Post op-ed bylines carefully — authors may be closer to their subjects than they appear.