March 15, 2014 --

...Prof. Stephen F. Cohen's article in the March 3 issue of The Nation, "Distorting Russia." Prof. Cohen describes mainstream media coverage of the Ukraine situation and Russian President Vladimir Putin as "shamefully unprofessional and politically inflammatory" adding that "this media malpractice is now pervasive and the new norm." As if to prove Prof. Cohen's point, an article in The New York Times, March 7, taking note of his National piece wrote that he "has embraced his role as dissenting villain in the current Russia debates, during which he consistently argues a perspective closer to that of Mr. Putin.

The Times, March 11, published a forceful letter from Prof. Cohen, protesting the paper's March 7 characterization of him, and mong other things, quoted this comment from Henry A. Kissinger's March 5 Washington Post article: "'The demonization of Vladimir Putin is not a policy; it is an alibi for the absence of one.'"

Alas, to borrow from Prof. Cohen's Nation article, LPR regards demonization to be "pervasive and the new norm" in leftist polemics.