More G-20 Gossip, Please

membership ticker

Autocratic forces are ascendant.

Truth-telling independent media is one remaining bulwark against an autocrat’s unrestrained exercise of power. At a time when billionaire owners of corporate media are making accommodations to political leaders, our nonprofit newsroom cannot be bought, bent, or broken. Depend on it, and please stand with us.

Autocratic forces are ascendant in America. But truth-telling independent media is one remaining bulwark against the unrestrained exercise of power. At a time when billionaire owners of corporate media are making accommodations to political leaders, our nonprofit newsroom cannot be bought or broken. Please stand with us.

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

I think I’ve now read about a dozen stories telling me that America is seriously at odds with France and Germany at the G-20 meeting because Obama isn’t as serious about financial regulatory reform as Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel are. The phrase “non-negotiable red lines” and the quote “The crisis didn’t actually spontaneously erupt in Europe, did it?”show up in pretty much all of these stories, but there’s always one thing missing: an explanation of exactly what the disagreement is about. Is the global financial press really so lame that they haven’t been able to ferret this out yet? Better gossip, please.