Posted on 06/27/2006 5:27:10 PM PDT by governsleastgovernsbest
by Mark Finkelstein
June 27, 2006
You're having a first conversation with someone. Alright, maybe you don't agree with him, but he seems rational. Then, out of the blue, he comes out with something so strange, so disconnected from reality, that you say to yourself 'whoah! - who is this guy?' And you go back and rethink everything else he had said in light of his suddenly-exposed madness.
That's what is was like watching Chris Matthews' interview of Ken Auletta on this evening's Hardball. Alright, Auletta's the media columnist of the New Yorker. So you have no illusions. This is a liberal. Even so, he seems so urbane, so calm, even reasonable. You could almost imagine having a drink and a conversation at sunset on the deck of one of those fancy Hampton houses you imagine he visits on weekends.
And then . . .
The topic was the New York Times' latest leak. Naturally Auletta thought it was OK. But, all of a sudden, he comes out with this:
"The New York Times is red meat to many elements of the Republican party, and red state voters. It is perceived as a liberal institution. I don't believe it is. Editorially it is, but not in its news coverage."
What? Was it the editorial page that has published not just this latest leak, but the leak of the NSA terrorist surveillance program, and that has been hostile to all things Bush and Republican in a thousand ways the Media Research Center could document from here to Sunday? No. It was 'the news coverage' side. The side Auletta doesn't believe is liberal.
Conservatives need to learn not to be fooled or intimidated by the seeming sophistication of people such as Auletta. They are either dissembling, or not quite as brilliant as they might appear.
Hardball/NewsBusters detached-from-reality ping to Today show list.
He's right. It's beyone "liberal."
He's right. It's beyond "liberal."
In related news, the Pope is no longer Catholic!
The Hildebeast isn't the illigimate daugher of hellspawn either.
I wonder if Mark Finkelstein is realted to Brian Finkelstein.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1656524/posts
These people think liberal is middle of the road. The only persons they see or associate with are liberals so they think everyone is.
Would a Marxist liberal recognize a Marxist liberal if he saw one in the mirror? I have my doubts! :-)
No relation. We're not exactly Smith or Jones, but there are many more of us Finkelsteins out here than people might imagine!
I have this experience with liberals all the time.
Interesting, bias trumps intelligence every time.
It's like "Me and my children don't have accents, but everyone else does"...
Maybe he is demented enough to believe that, not many outside the beltway would agree.
LOL. That is so true.
Times has long since ceased to be a newspaper. It is one big compilation editorials that also sometimes contains a few news articles.
The Times has lost all concept of what differentiates an editorial from covering the news.
Actually, that's being generous to them. In an editorial, a journalist should make a genuine effort to present the facts in a reasonably unbiased way and then explain their interpretation of those facts and then attempt to persuade readers in an honest and forthright manner.
The Times is far too lacking in integrity to do that. They simply believe they know what we should believe, and the truth is less important than their beliefs.
Auletta is a tiresome toady for the NYTimes and his written at least one book on the news organization. Let's hope his next one on the NYTimes is a threnody.
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