My letter to Post's Dana Milbank on DSM hearing article [View All]

[LiberalEsto]

Dear Mr. Milbank,

I find it pitifully ironic that your article on the Downing Street Memo hearing appeared in today's Post on the 33rd anniversary of the Watergate break-in. In 1972, the Washington Post backed Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward's efforts to expose a chain of criminal activity reaching all the way to the White House. Ultimately, their work led to the resignation of President Richard Nixon in disgrace, and earned a place in history.

Your article is the antithesis of Woodward and Bernstein's tremendous investigative reporting. I was a newspaper reporter for nearly 30 years (including an 11-year stint at the Newark Star-Ledger), and I am appalled that the Post permitted publication of such a biased, vitriol-filled piece of writing on an ostensible news page. To make mockery of Rep. John Conyers in such a childish and mean-spirited fashion speaks volumes, not about him, but about yourself.

I am saddened that the Post has sunk from a pinnacle of journalistic courage to become an overt shill for the Bush administration and its agenda. The Post's reportage has truly reached its nadir. We should mark a moment of silence today, the Watergate anniversary, in memory of the late, once-great Washington Post.

Shame on you.