Word: argumentative
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...know the public-interest argument: the networks use the public airwaves, multi-billion dollar assets that they don't pay a cent for, so they owe the public a certain amount of public-affairs programming, even if it costs them. It's a valid point. But the ideal solution would be not to give the networks that access for free, but rather make them pay, and let the people decide how to spend that money in their own interest...
...Regardless, even given the public-interest argument, does ABC owe it to you and me to keep "Nightline" on the air, even at the cost of millions in additional revenue that Letterman would bring? Or more to the point, does ABC owe us more than their competitors do? If ABC owes it to America to keep Ted Koppel on at 11:35 p.m., why aren't media critics jumping on CBS and NBC, who don't have an 11:35 news program to begin with...
...they still don't get it. Yes, Cardinal Law has formally apologized. But his reckoning was carefully parsed. "In retrospect," Law said in his formal statement, the "response of the archdiocese to the grave evil...was flawed and inadequate." In retrospect? By what conceivable moral argument could ignoring child abuse be deemed at any time acceptable? "In retrospect," he also said, he had put children in danger, "albeit unintentionally." How can a church demand moral responsibility of its members if its leaders cannot do so when unmitigated evil is standing right in front of them...
...mental illness, Williams doesn’t have the ability to comprehend that his actions were wrong—negating any retributive argument in favor of the death penalty in this case. To make matters worse, Williams was only 17 when he committed the crime. People under 18 are called “minors” for a reason—they don’t have the maturity to be tried as adults, regardless of the horror of their crime...
...rushed to interpret the fierce battles in two West Bank refugee camps on Thursday as having eclipsed the ray of hope sent by Abdullah's proposal. Supporters, however, will see the latest escalation of violence in the territories occupied by Israel since 1967 as underscoring the prince's basic argument. Israelis and Palestinians may be fighting more fiercely than ever, but to the extent that they're talking about a long-term peace, the discussion has been dominated this week by Prince Abdullah's proposal...