I Wonder if it's Time to Do Something About The Examiner.

As you will remember, we really don't care that much for the new, Anschutz-owned Examiner, its no-jump-pages allowed brand of shopper journalism, and its bizarre right-wing editorials. But an editorial in Today's edition takes the cake.

"Addressing the Chinese 'Threat'" (no link yet due to the sluggishness of Examiner.com's updates; go pick up a print copy to see this trash) by Doug Bandow is nothing more that a bought-and-paid-for advertisement for the Chinese government, downplaying China's military adventurism and still-hairy human rights record. It includes such jewels as the following:

"Fifth, the PRC insn't likely to catch the US militarily until mid-century. Beijing will match America (presumably the word "economically" goes here, damned Examiner editors!) more quickly, but Washington's advantage has always been artificial and bound to ebb. Maintaining American influence will require thoughtful diplomacy and economic openness."

In other words, the usual Chicago School line about taking advantage of China's cheaper labor markets in the face of growing regional and global military ambitions, which will inevitably come in conflict with Asian democracies - and, therefore, eventually, us.

But then, editorials are meant to be partisan. Problem is, you would think a major city newspaper, which the Examiner strives to be, would choose a better author to make this point than a hack for a fake right-wing think tank founded by Dick Armey who is so well-regarded that he has to self-publish his own policy monographs. Bandow has also been implicated in a scheme to buy editorial support for clients of Jack Abramoff, the recently deposed super-sleaze lobbyist.

Oh Well.