Americans Need To Watch Al Jazeera

There's a must read article in today's New York Times penned by Roger Cohen on the topic of Al Jazeera, the Arab news network. Cohen believes that the English language version of Al Jazeera news should be widely available in the U.S. because Americans need to see and hear what the rest of the world can see and hear, namely the news from that particular viewpoint. We don't realize the degree to which Americans are insulated and isolated from the world community, Cohen seems to be saying. As our power and influence wanes, we had better wake up and wise up. The world is changing around us in ways that we may not like and can no longer control. However, keeping our heads buried in the sand doesn't help. Of course, the current president and his administration would not want Americans to have access to this information even though Bush's approval ratings can hardly go much lower. They're afraid of Al Jazeera English language newscasts, with good reason.

PHOTO: Geese are ever present on the river banks here in Fairmount Park

Jim