A single question in the Las Vegas Democratic Presidential Debate exhibited everything that you need to know about the contemporary American media. Wolf Blitzer, CNN moderator, asked each candidate to choose a priority between human rights and national security.

Blitzer didn't want to be troubled by analysis. He wanted an answer as simple as the thought process that developed the question. It must be nice to live in a world without nuance. There must comfort in choosing policy without the burden of history or experience.

ADLER SEEKS FULL SENATE PANEL FOR MILITARY AND VETERANS AFFAIRS

TRENTON – Senator John H. Adler today said he believes a full standing Senate committee is needed to deal with the “family, health, education and employment issues” affecting New Jersey military personnel and veterans.

CODEY AND SWEENEY ELECTED TO LEAD SENATE

TRENTON – Members of the Senate Democratic Majority today unanimously re-elected Senate President Richard J. Codey to lead the Senate when the new legislative session begins in January.

Jim McQueeny is many things to many people. Only I'm not so sure the media always portrays him that way. In some cases, they may actually be contributing to the distortion.

Let’s start with his “unabashed fan” admiration for Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) that he touted in his Star-Ledger op-ed on Tuesday. In his own words, McQueeny told the readers he “served in the 1980s as his spokesman and state chief of staff and also regularly continuing to break bread with him ever since.” But the relationship is really much deeper than that.

Over the years, the Star-Ledger has sourced McQueeny as “a longtime Lautenberg adviser” and “longtime friend”. In 2002, the Ledger and The Record both reported on McQueeny’s high profile role in Lautenberg’s campaign inner circle. No one knows for sure what role he’ll be play during the current election cycle.

Whether or not you believe the Ledger adequately disclosed the Lautenberg-McQueeny relationship at the end of the op-ed piece, I for one think McQueeny disclosed himself.

That said, let’s move on to News12 New Jersey.

McQueeny calls himself a ”television political analyst” for the station. Well he’s certainly qualified for the job. That’s not the problem.

To casual viewers, McQueeny likely appears as a full-time newscaster, particularly when he has served as a moderator for partisan political debates. But unlike other news analysts, he pays the mortgage working for clients actively wheeling and dealing in Jersey politics.