In other news, while I don't like what that linked article describes, there's a media problem I'd like to rant about.
Look, I've gotten more liberal as I've gotten older. As a teen-early twenties, I voted Republican almost on instinct. As I've gotten older I look more at issues and try to look less at party (though this is very difficult, since any reference to any politician in the media includes their party), so in the recent past I've voted for Democrats because I thought they'd do a better job (though this is *not* a straight ticket issue, if I ever feel inclined to vote straight along party lines, I will take a good long look at what I'm doing before going through with it).
So though my inclinations have liberalized, there are things that really, really bother me about the Washington Post (a liberally inclined paper) in the last week.
1) I don't like W., but the Post has been running as their headline stories all this week are a series of articles derived from Woodward's new book. OK, Woodward is a professional reporter, to some this questions his impartiality, but to others this strengthens their perceptions of it. However, he has a reputation of breaking presidents' balls. And while his history with Whitewater means that people in the know would be inclined to leak to him I'd think, adding *potential* credibility to his book, he's also an EMPLOYEE of the Post. So spending an entire week reporting the info in the book as "news," at the headline of the front page smacks, at it's most innocent, as merchandising. Since it doesn't seem to me to be headline news, it smacks much more to me of politically motivated reporting.
2)Then there's the story yesterday about Pallin's spending habits while governor of Alaska. This was also front page, though it was subordinate to the one on Woodward's book. The problem is, it reports all this spending like it was scandalous and inappropriate... but as you turned the page you learn that, even as the article admits, this is acceptable practice, and is expected of governors of the largest geographical state in the US who have to travel so far. And it was to be with her family, and it was, as far as I can tell, all done while doing her job.
I'm not what you'd call in the Pallin camp. But this seems like very irresponsible reporting.