Conscious Servility
by digby
I haven't written anything about the Weigel matter because everyone else seemed to have the ground pretty well covered.
But reading the article in today's NY Times about the flap contains something so revealing that I can't help but make a note of it:
The Post’s precipitous action suggests that the editors had no idea of what they were buying in the first place. He probably could have survived if he had slammed Rachel Maddow or had some fun at Al Franken’s expense, but his willingness to train his guns inside the conservative movement was a bit much, especially in the eyes of The Post’s ombudsman, Andrew Alexander.
“Weigel’s exit, and the events that prompted it, have further damaged The Post among conservatives who believe it is not properly attuned to their ideology or activities,” he wrote. “Ironically, Weigel was hired to address precisely those concerns.” Loosely translated, it means someone whom they thought they hired to build bridges was blowing them up instead.
There is absolutely no doubt that if he or any other reporter had made fun of Rachel Maddow or Al Franken it would have been fine because its considered completely acceptable to treat liberals with derision. For instance, if it had been revealed that Ezra Klein had insulted Markos Moulitsas on his listserv is it even imaginable that he would have been fired? Even if a bunch of lefty bloggers got up in arms and complained? I don't either. Of course, Ezra wasn't hired to cover the progressive movement --- but then no one was, were they?
The Post's ombudsman made it clear that they are determined to cater to the conservative movement. The NY Times ombudsman revealed the same thing in his post-ACORN apologia promising to consult FOX News as a legitimate source in the future. Despite all their blathering about unbiased reporting,the two most politically influential papers in the country are admitting openly that they are capitulating to the sustained, cynical right wing campaign to force the media to treat it with kid gloves. They're not even trying to hide it anymore.
I think Ana Marie Cox has it right in the article when she says that the Washington Post didn't know they weren't getting a doctrinaire conservative in Weigel. In fact, from their reaction it appears that they don't actually know what movement conservatism is, nor do they care. They've simply decided that the path of least resistance is to show deference to people who lay claim to the identity.
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