Opinion

Just shut down Facebook and other comments

Liberal scribe: Zuck Should Shut Down Facebook

Matthew Yglesias at Vox argues that Mark Zuckerberg should shut down Facebook. Misinformation is in plenty supply in traditional media, too — “but relaxing the constraint that the story has to be accurate is a big leg up.” Traditional media try to catch readers with sensational headlines or photos (or both), but on Facebook the whole thing can be fiction. Who can compete with that? Thus Facebook is also “destroying the business model for outlets that make real news.” And while journalists who complain about this are accurately accused of special pleading, Yglesias says what matters is that they’re right: “The US Postal Service has long maintained a special discount rate for periodicals to facilitate the dissemination of journalism and the viability of journalism business models.”

From the left: Kushner’s Encouraging Peace Strategy

Jared Kushner might bring peace to the Middle East after all. At Bloomberg, Noah Feldman praises Kushner’s strategy of forging a relationship with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The plan: Get the Saudis to bring the Palestinians to the table, then deliver the Israelis by showing the Arab world’s willingness to normalize relations. “Other negotiators in the past have sought to regionalize the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Kushner has gotten further than any of his predecessors on this front.” Why would the heir to the throne in Riyadh do this? Because, explains Feldman, his domestic reforms and consolidation of power “needs unprecedented personal backing from the White House. And Kushner and Trump have delivered exactly that.”

Security writer: Brennan Must Get Off Partisan Warhorse

Former CIA Director John Brennan has been on a tear against President Trump, suggesting Vladimir Putin may have blackmail-worthy information on him. At The Washington Examiner, Tom Rogan wants Brennan to knock it off. “The CIA’s mission, as the career CIA officer Brennan knows full well, is to collect intelligence that can be fed into analytical assessments which can then help national leaders create good policy,” Rogan writes. “That process is necessarily designed to be apolitical and nonpartisan. It involves exactly the opposite approach to that which Brennan is now employing.” Brennan served honorably, but Rogan says his current behavior casts doubt on the agency he led and makes it easier for Trump and his allies to complaint about the “deep state.”

Conservative take: Trump Conquered Old Media

Donald Trump became president thanks to his mastery of old media, not new, argues Ross Douthat at The New York Times. Start with NBC, which had Trump as the brilliant businessman-host of “The Apprentice,” billed as reality TV: “The core Trump demographic might just have been Republicans who watched ‘The Apprentice,’ who bought the fake news that his television program and its network sponsors gladly sold them.” That was step one. Step two was his ability to turn his celebrity into billions’ worth of free media, not from right-wing networks but from the likes of CNN and others, thanks to “those television execs who were fine with enabling the wild Trumpian takeover of the GOP, because after all Republicans deserved it and Hillary was sure to beat him in the end.”

From the right: Stop Questioning Other Side’s Patriotism

Marc Thiessen is “a rock-ribbed conservative who wants Republicans to keep control of Congress.” Yet when Republican Rick Saccone lost a recent race in Pennsylvania, Thiessen didn’t shed any tears. In the closing days of the campaign, Saccone said many on the left hate God and country. “My mother is a liberal Democrat, and I can tell you: She does not hate America or God,” Thiessen responds. Thiessen’s mother grew up in Nazi-occupied Poland, joined the Polish underground, was taken prisoner and liberated by Patton’s army, before eventually moving to the United States and becoming a citizen. Saccone’s remark was a symptom of our polarized politics that must be pushed back on, Thiessen says: “Whether you are liberal, conservative or in between, I’ll bet that you have a loved one who disagrees with you about politics . . . We should not stand for politicians from either party who insult them or question their motives or their patriotism.”

— Compiled by Seth Mandel