Posted by Jed Lewison on Thu Aug 14, 2008 at 10:42 AM Pacific

Frontpaging the smears

Unfit for print:

Whatever their intent, the New York Times and Washington Post both frame the new book as raising questions about Obama. And they both think it deserves front page treatment. It's just absurd. (As debrazza notes, the NYT did an especially bad job.)

How hard would it have been for these "journalistic" outfits to put up a headline saying something like this:

Former Cheney Aide Publishes False Charges Against Obama

Or what about:

GOP Strategist Mary Matalin Heads Publishing House of Smear Book

Or even:

Wife Of Top Clinton Supporter Gets Into the Smear Game

Instead, each publication is careful to note that Matalin is a "former" GOP strategist -- even though she had an active role in the 2008 presidential campaign of Fred Thompson. That's not what I call former.