In addition to publishing dreck on a regular basis (see below), today's WaPo has two articles on the front page of its "Style" section that demonstrate how cravenly the media responds to the bells rung by the right wing (and, unfortunately, the Clintonistas).
One is a piece of "reportage" by Libby Copeland, "At McCain's Ariz. Retreat, Ribs With a Side of Chi?", (sorry, no link) a fawning, steaming pile of poo about a cookout for the press hosted by Walnuts (aka St. John) McCain at his "homey ranch" in Arizona. As if McCain needs to schmooze the press!! From Tweety to Timmeh, to Libby, to Broderella and all points in between, the MSM is in love with the crusty ol' maverick. Responding to a firestorm from the wingnut world over McCain's "dealings" with lobbyists during his career, the MSM is now in full mea culpa mode. The Clinton campaign (see Wolfson, Hugh Jass), MSM, and wingnut world have combined in their efforts to "bring down" Obama, for all their craven reasons. Which brings us to the second pile of "reportage" on the "Style" page by resident WaPo/ CNN media wanker Howie Kurtz.
Kurtz wants to be in the forefront of the "bring down Obama" press. He tries in "'Soft' Press Sharpens Its Focus on Obama" to cite as many examples as he can, in the interests of "reportage" mind you, of the media responding to the tinkling bell of wingnut world. While he cites critical "reporting" on ABC, NBC and CBS on Obama, he spends much of his time rehashing ad hominem attacks on Obama from the likes of neocon wanker Wee Willie Kristol, Bill "Not So" Cunningham, and RedState's crackpot editor Erick Erickson. Gee, who'd-a-thunk it!? Repeating their innuendo and racist attacks in the guise of "here's what the media's saying about Obama" is transparently dishonest of Kurtz (also in the tank for McCain). But who expects otherwise?
UPDATE: As usual, Glenn Greenwald wraps Kurtz up neatly.
