Just the Facts, Ma'am

Two good reads, on the significance of facts and why ignoring them can jeopardize democracy's health:

TomDispatch: Schwartz and Engelhardt, War without End

Bushco's allergy to facts doomed the Iraq War, and the ISG's allergy to facts dooms it as well.

Glenn Greenwald, Unclaimed Territory: Media as adversary to the government

The proper role of the media, and why "the well-documented and much-discussed journalistic myth that "objectivity" requires mindless recitation of both sides's claims, and that it is improper and "biased" to take sides" is bullshit. There are certain identifiable facts, and if those are known conclusions can be drawn.