The Stacked Media Deck

In following up on the second paragraph in my post yesterday about the filibuster, I should mention this essay from Peter Daou examining just why the Democrats have such a hard time of getting their point across. If you read across the blogiverse, you've probably already come across it, but in case you haven't, it's worth taking a look. In short, Daou says it's the media's fault--OK, I know that's an easy target, but he takes the time to explain why, and his argument is compelling.

Talking about the same thing, but in response to a specific column on Wednesday from Maureen Dowd (which is hidden behind The New York Times' subscription curtain but, through the magic of the Internet, is available here through the courtesy of The Era: Outside the Lines) is Reed Hundt at TPMCafe. Dowd's column was decent enough, but the comment that caught Hundt's ire was:

As the White House drives its truckload of lies around the country, it becomes ever clearer that Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Hillary Clinton, John Kerry and Al Gore are just not the right people to respond to the administration's national security scare-a-thon.

Hundt says Dowd and her brethren in the national media are to blame for that litany of "ineffective Democrats." He's angry and goes on at length (though he does it well, so the whole thing's still a good read), but here's the essence of his argument:

In its way, this sorry tale resembles that of many other erstwhile liberals in the mainstream media who, when invited to the never-ending Washington cocktail party, have chosen to smile obligingly at the contemptible remarks made about progressives rather than to express repugnance for the viciousness. Ms Dowd is famously shy in person, they say, but in writing she's laughing it up at the bar with the rest of the crowd. The original movie version was Gentlemen's Agreement, starring Gregory Peck.

Hundt and Daou provide a potent one-two punch against baseless assumptions about Democrats and progressives that keep popping up throughout the media. If you can't recognize it and call it for what it is, you can't fight it.

And while we're sneaking behind the NYTimes pay-to-read wall, take a look at Bob Herbert's Thursday column, also available courtesy of The Era. If you liked Wednesday's link to Harold Meyerson's "Bush the Incompetent," you'll love "A President Who Can Do No Right."