Monday, September 22, 2008

Shooting the messenger... again

McCain senior campaign advisor Steve Schmidt attacked the New York Times today:


Whatever The New York Times once was, it is today not by any standard a journalistic organization. It is a pro-Obama advocacy organization that every day impugns the McCain campaign, attacks Sen. McCain, attacks Gov. [Sarah] Palin, excuses Sen. Obama. …

Everything that is read in The New York Times that attacks this campaign should be evaluated by the American people from that perspective — that it is an organization that has made a decision to cast aside its journalistic integrity and tradition, to advocate for the defeat of one candidate — in this case, John McCain — and to advocate for the election of the other candidate, Barack Obama.


The Times has done a number of investigative pieces on both McCain and Obama, many of them less than positive. Schmidt's outburst was in response to a story on page A18 about ties between McCain campaign manager Rick Davis and lobbyists for Fanny Mae and Freddy Mac.


Of course, this is just a campaign tactic, designed to distract people from the actual content of the Times' reporting. But when politicians feel they can attack the nation's most respected newspaper as "not by any standards a journalistic organization," it goes beyond the typical smear. To me, this seems like part of the Republican attack on the very idea of truth, the idea that there is an objective reality that can be verified. This benefits Republicans, because without objective truth, we are left with gut feelings, which Republicans are expert at manipulating.

It is remarkable that even now, with Americans losing their homes and their jobs due to Republican-led deregulation, they still feed the idea that facts don't matter. But what choice do they have? They can't run on their records.

The New York Times and all other journalists and bloggers must recognize this for the sad tactic it is, and continue their work with new vigor. The truth is out there, and it must be heard!

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