Read a Pacific Northwest, liberal perspective on world, national, and local politics. From majestic Redmond, Washington - the Northwest Progressive Institute Official Blog.

Thursday, February 15, 2007

David Reinhard, lying stenographer

The Oregonian's right-wing stenographer David Reinhard pens a pathetic column where he assails John Edwards and the bloggers but doesn't mention all the offensive things Bill Donohue says. To put things simply, David Reinhard is essentially lying in his column by presenting a completely false account of the situation involving the Edwards bloggers.

I usually ignore Reinhard, because he's a poor writer and seldom has an original thought, but in this case it is such a clear example of how the noise machine operates that it's worthy of note. First someone on the right cooks up phony outrage, and with the help of gullible reporters gets it into the regular media. Here we are about a week later, and paid stooges like Reinhard are discussing it in the context of the alleged double standard against conservatives.

The smear job is the real story, of course. In a sane and rational media environment we would be treated to extensive profiles of Donohue and all the crazy things he has said and done over the years.

It all feeds directly into the pathetic and laughable sense of victimhood on the right. Bill Donohue is a racist and an anti-Semite, but what we get in the regular media is that he is a "Catholic spokesman" who simply objects to bias against Catholics. Right.

It's ridiculous, and newspapers should know better. Opinion pages should have strong opinions, but when they become a haven for liars like Reinhard newpapers are not providing "a variety of views," they are actively participating in a political act, in this case a smear job. Why this is so hard to understand puzzles me. The Great Wall of Editorial-dom is not a license to be active particpants in Republican Rat Love.

Until the media cleans up its act, it really shouldn't surprise editors and owners that many Americans are going to view them with suspicion and frankly, enmity.

<< Home