In the mass-media age, journalism is more than the transmission of neutral information: It traffics in the kind of information and spectacle calculated to embarrass Western leaders. ...

But the media don't confine themselves to embarrassing politicians: They also work to create shame about Western history, traditions, and institutions. ... Not only our vices but our virtues and values are eligible for assault. Old sexual mores come under fire as much as segregation laws. Christianity is represented as dogmatic, obtuse, repressive: The Pope too is convicted of "gaffes." Bizarre phenomena like lesbian nuns are treated not as screwballs but as legitimate protesters against onerous restrictions. Every malcontent, no matter how disoriented, becomes a victim.