There was an interesting Kaplan Daily book review of the Thomas Mann/ Norman Ornstein book, "It's Even Worse Than It Looks", yesterday (no link). Written by Kaplan Daily Associate Editor Robert G. Kaiser, the review mostly concurred in Mann's and Ornstein's accurate contention that the Rethuglican Party has, through its extremism, become "the problem" in modern American politics. (We ran this snippet by Mann and Ornstein from a piece which was published in last Sunday's Kaplan Daily.) Given his role at the Kaplan Daily (o.k., Washington Post), could we view this admission by Kaiser as a hopeful sign that the "mainstream media" is finally noting what has been going on with the right wing in this country for the past 30 years:
"Mann and Ornstein rightly blame the news media for doing a mediocre job covering the most important political story of the last three decades: the transformation of the Republican Party. They are critical of the conventions of mainstream journalism that lead to the evenhandedness they have now abandoned themselves. They see a 'reflexive tendency of many in the mainstream press to use false equivalence to explain outcomes,' when Republican obstructionism and Republican rejection of science and basic facts have no Democratic equivalents. It’s much easier to write stories “that convey an impression that the two sides are equally implicated.”
O.K., Mr. Kaiser. Now that you've agreed that the media, by not doing its job competently, is complicit in the Rethug's ability to get away with promoting the most extremist positions -- and lying 24/7 to the American people -- what are you going to do about it in your capacity at the Post?
