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Re: Ted Rall Subscription Service (fwd)

> From: Noelle <noelle> > Date: Tue, 21 Apr 2026 10:59:41 -0700 (PDT) > > he takes down Anne Appelbaum Is it Appelbaum or Applebaum? Surprised he didn't mention https://www.npr.org/people/703048123/john-otis . > > From: Ted <http://www.96714821.mailchimpapp.com/~tedrall> > > Date: Tue, 21 Apr 2026 17:52:42 +0000 > > > > The Ted Rall Subscription Service > > Thank you for supporting independent political commentary > > Here is this week's column. Thanks for subscribing to the Ted Rall > > Subscription Service. > > TED RALL > > THE PERNICIOUSNESS OF CENTRISM > > RELEASE: TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2026 > > The Left is extreme, the Right is extreme. In the middle lies truth and > > reason. > > None of this is true—but it is taken for granted, even by many of those on > > the Left and the Right ( > > https://rall.us18.list-manage.com/track/click?u=317c94f76a09aa357140ea82c&id=b5861cf291&e=c3adcc1cdb. > > ) . The Left is right about some things, as is the > > Right, and centrists are frequently, perhaps usually, proven wrong ( > > https://rall.us18.list-manage.com/track/click?u=317c94f76a09aa357140ea82c&id=c3e1761bdd&e=c3adcc1cdb > > ) . But moderates control news and entertainment > > media ( > > https://rall.us18.list-manage.com/track/click?u=317c94f76a09aa357140ea82c&id=30a7083f01&e=c3adcc1cdb > > ) and thus the narrative. In their telling, which > > even those of us who don’t believe when we stop to think about it, buy > > into because we are soaking, nay, drowning in their framing, the range of > > normal/sane/calm political debate lies in the middle. All else is kookery. > > So we are told. > > We have so poisoned our planet that a third of all species alive today will > > be extinct ( > > https://rall.us18.list-manage.com/track/click?u=317c94f76a09aa357140ea82c&id=639aa4fe33&e=c3adcc1cdb > > ) by 2100. We are the poorest developed country ( > > https://rall.us18.list-manage.com/track/click?u=317c94f76a09aa357140ea82c&id=75f436332b&e=c3adcc1cdb > > ) . Most people can’t afford healthcare ( > > https://rall.us18.list-manage.com/track/click?u=317c94f76a09aa357140ea82c&id=0623a4bc5d&e=c3adcc1cdb > > .) . These are radical problems. They don’t call > > for a compromise, or splitting the difference, or good-enough solutions. > > Radical problems call for radical solutions. Oncologists don’t prescribe > > half chemo. > > Radical left environmentalists deserve center stage in any discussion about > > pollution and ecocide for the simple reasons that they alone understand that > > the issue is enormously important, the crisis is grave, and anything less > > than a comprehensive global solution that totally transforms capitalism has > > a chance of addressing it. They are so sidelined from corporate media that > > they receive less of a fair hearing in the news than white supremacists ( > > https://rall.us18.list-manage.com/track/click?u=317c94f76a09aa357140ea82c&id=a665c82af2&e=c3adcc1cdb > > ) . > > Centrism is a political leaning. In the U.S., moderates are typically > > liberal technocrats or center-right pre-Trump Republicans. They have biases > > and prejudices and they succumb to shibboleths and bigotries. Yet the > > mainstream media labels centrists/moderates as “objective ( > > Experts in the center often have political leanings (e.g., technocratic > > liberal or center-right ) > > but are labeled %22objective%22 because their views align > > with the prevailing moderate consensus within mainstream media, > > which studies suggest often tilts toward a liberal-leaning, > > technocratic viewpoint.) ” or neutral—i.e., they don’t notice > > those biases because they agree with them. (This is analogous to how Fox > > News and other Murdoch-owned right-wing media outlets characterize mainline > > Democrats as “far left.”) Centrist or technocratic talking heads from > > thinktanks like the Brookings Institution are often identified solely by > > their professional credentials ( > > https://rall.us18.list-manage.com/track/click?u=317c94f76a09aa357140ea82c&id=1a536f3a8d&e=c3adcc1cdb > > ) rather than their political stance. > > I listen to a lot of NPR. So many writers from The Atlantic magazine appear > > as guests on the network that it’s jarring. It’s almost as if there are > > no journalists working anywhere else. So, while researching this piece, I > > looked into whether there was a formal partnership between the two > > organizations. It turns out that there is one with PBS, the staid analysis > > round-up “Washington Week with The Atlantic” TV show, and there is > > predictable cross-pollination between NPR and PBS, but no formal deal. > > The Atlantic leans center-left—by American standards, which is what we’ > > re discussing here. These days, it cultivates that ideological positioning > > with domestic news and analysis that reliably criticizes Republican > > positions. Flying under the radar are foreign policy positions that echo > > neo-conservative and unreconstructed Cold Warrior views so far right that > > Trump is to their left on some issues. Because The Atlantic is “moderate,� > > � and adheres to baseline grammatical and editorial standards, its writers > > go on NPR every day to express opinions that are right-wing by any objective > > standard but are not only not labeled as such, they are not identified at > > all. > > Say hello to the secret “neutral” right-wing extremists. > > Anne Applebaum of The Atlantic espouses a set of retrograde views of the > > world that place her firmly in the camp of Bush-era neoconservatives like > > Dick Cheney and Paul Wolfowitz. She hates Russia ( > > https://rall.us18.list-manage.com/track/click?u=317c94f76a09aa357140ea82c&id=5858ca828d&e=c3adcc1cdb > > ) , hates socialism and communism, favors NATO > > expansion into the former Soviet space, rarely criticizes U.S. actions > > overseas, supported ( > > https://rall.us18.list-manage.com/track/click?u=317c94f76a09aa357140ea82c&id=8260861c47&e=c3adcc1cdb > > ) the U.S. invasion of Iraq, and pushes ( > > https://rall.us18.list-manage.com/track/click?u=317c94f76a09aa357140ea82c&id=fba1ac2d7b&e=c3adcc1cdb > > ) for more weapons to Ukraine. > > My biggest problem with neoconservatives is not that they’re warmongers. > > It’s that they’re always wrong. Invading Iraq was never going to set off > > democratic dominos ( > > https://rall.us18.list-manage.com/track/click?u=317c94f76a09aa357140ea82c&id=d522b4d8ac&e=c3adcc1cdb > > ) across the Middle East, there were no WMDs, Ukraine > > was not ( > > https://rall.us18.list-manage.com/track/click?u=317c94f76a09aa357140ea82c&id=206e5ca8e8&e=c3adcc1cdb > > ) a democracy and has become a dictatorship ( > > https://rall.us18.list-manage.com/track/click?u=317c94f76a09aa357140ea82c&id=c21369762e&e=c3adcc1cdb > > ) , the people of Iran are in no position to > > overthrow their government. Left, right, or middle, political analysts > > should be good at prognosticating. > > Like her fellow neoconservative and bestie William Kristol, Applebaum can > > almost always be counted upon for a right-wing foreign policy take that > > turns out to have been mistaken. Because she’s at The Atlantic, however, > > she’s identified as an anodyne “historian and journalist.” Her agenda� > > �an extreme one at that, one espoused by only a tiny minority ( > > https://rall.us18.list-manage.com/track/click?u=317c94f76a09aa357140ea82c&id=f0b1849807&e=c3adcc1cdb > > ) of voters—is concealed from NPR’s bourgeois > > audience. She’s entitled to her opinions. And readers are entitled to be > > informed about the fact that she’s opinionated. > > Even when centrism is truly centrism, centrism is not neutral. Nor, when 63% > > of the electorate self-identifies as liberal or conservative, is centrism > > normal. It is high time to stop conflating moderation with neutrality. > > (Ted Rall, the political cartoonist, columnist and graphic novelist, is the > > author of “Never Mind the Democrats. Here’s What’s Left ( > > https://rall.us18.list-manage.com/track/click?u=317c94f76a09aa357140ea82c&id=1621caacf4&e=c3adcc1cdb > > ) .” Subscribe: tedrall.Substack.com. He is co-host > > of the podcast “DeProgram with Ted Rall and Jamarl Thomas.”) > > > > ============================================================ > > > > Copyright © 2026 Ted Rall Features, All rights reserved. > > You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website. > > > > Our mailing address is: > > Ted Rall Features > > box 2760 > > New York, NY 10163-2760 > > USA


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