Christian Scientist Monitor offers Perspective on Events

In times like this I find myself turning more and more to the Christian Science Monitor as a new source. It’s tough not to love a paper that can run a cartoon like this the same day it is running an article like Americans and a Dangerous World, which offers a reasonable perspective on the current “crisis.”

The subheading, “Despite missile and terror threats, experts urge vigilance and alertness, not panic” offers the sanest approach to recent events and government announcements. While not directly criticizing the Bush administration, the article does offer advice that will help counter the current hysteria that threatens to little besides enriching Walmart, Lowes and Home Depot.

The article points out that while Central Intelligence director George Tenet’s warning that North Korean missiles may be able to reach the West Coast puts a “vivid face on that danger,” what he didn’t say is that “the US reaction to North Korea’s actions might in itself boost that trend” because the “US is angrily confronting an apparently nonnuclear Iraq” while “treating an apparently nuclear-armed Pyongyang with great care.”

While the article does not directly attack the administration’s urging citizens to rush out and buy duct tape, it does note that “Experts debated whether the plastic would do any good,” while suggesting that “the main purpose of the warning might have been to ready the nation mentally for coming challenges.”

Unlike most of today’s media, the Christian Scientist Monitor continues to offer a relatively objective view of the world.