Calame's Calumny: More Hillary-Ogling from the New York Times

[Unmarked Poster]

Let's start with Jack Shafer's description of New York Times Public Editor Byron Calame:

"Calame possesses a mandate that would allow him to boil the journalistic ocean if he so desired, but he usually elects to merely warm a teapot for his readers and pour out thimblefuls of weak chamomile.... Perhaps Calame spends so much time swinging his club in the weeds because he can't hit the ball when it's on the fairway."

Now, with that in mind, read this ...if you have the stomach for it: Hillary and Bill: A Relationship Too Political to Be Ignored. (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/04/opinion/04pubed.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin)

Calame tries to defend Patrick Healy's sorry excuse for political reporting that ran in last week's Times. Healy's awkward attempt at tabloid journalism has already been sliced and diced. I'll add one more point I made on MSNBC last Wednesday, a point that Calame conveniently ignores: where on earth are the juicy stories about John McCain and Rudy Giuliani, let alone George and Laura? Oh, sorry, the Times is too busy digging up pro-Bush quotes in Provo, Utah. My bad.

One thing is clear in this ongoing struggle between progressive bloggers and the establishment media: GOP-propping and Dem-trashing is an addiction that won't be relinquished without a fight. It's not a stretch to think that Deborah Howell, Chris Matthews, Tim Russert, The Note, David Broder, and other stalwarts of the DC media elite share Joe Klein's disdain for the online community. We are the hated enemy and, truth be damned, they won't let a bunch of creatures from the fever swamp dictate who and what they should write about.

More here: http://daoureportgrit.blogspot.com/2006/06/calames-calumny.html