My relationship with the Washington Post went from alarm to dismay to shock to resignation during the Bush years. During the Clinton presidency, I saw the Post as an institutionally center-left organization. In many ways, it was far more measured than the New York Times, which went after Clinton for everything from Whitewater to Wen Ho Lee (and never sufficiently apologized). Things began to change dramatically during the run-up to the invasion of Iraq. While the New York Times opposed the invasion in fairly uncompromising terms, the Post was a strong cheerleader. Both papers engaged in badly flawed reporting, but it was their editorial stances that were starkly distinct.
For quite some time I have seen the Post as an institutionally center-right institution, and editor Fred Hiatt as a tool of special corporate interests. So, it’s refreshing to see Hiatt call bullshit on the GOP’s Pledge for America.
IF REPUBLICANS are serious about governing responsibly, they have an odd way of showing it. And for politicians who purport to hate the deficit — odder still. The House Republicans’ “Pledge to America,” unveiled with fanfare Thursday at a Sterling hardware store, mixes irresponsible tax cuts with implausible spending caps and unspecified actions to control entitlement spending. The resulting concoction is a profile in cowardice…
…Sadly, the “Pledge” contains no credible plan to reduce this debt. On the contrary, it would increase the debt by $4 trillion — yes, trillion — by extending all the expiring Bush tax cuts and adding new ones, including a poorly conceived deduction for small businesses…
…What was this, the children’s hour?
I welcome the honest assessment. I mean, even Red State’s Erick Erikson called the Pledge “the dumbest thing to come out of Washington since George McClellan.” McClellan, you might remember, was Abraham Lincoln’s first, ineffectual, general during the Civil War. In a possible prelude to 2012, after Lincoln fired him, McClellan ran for president against Lincoln in 1864. Of course, General Petraeus was merely demoted, not fired, and he’s probably too proud to share a stage with Sarah Palin and Rick Santorum.
In any case, it’s good to see that the Post has no patience with the GOP’s stupid plan. Of course, tomorrow they will probably go back to pretending the opposition is a plausible alternative.
Considering the fact that the Post illegally published a new leak every day from Ken Starr’s partisan grand jury hit-squad, it was very open-minded of you to consider them center-left during the Clinton years.
It’s illegal to leak grand jusry proceedings, but not to report on those leaks.
Sorry. Wrong wording. It should have read “Post published a new illegal leak every day.” But it doesn’t change the fact that there is a reason that grand jury testimony is secret: it has not been contested in court, and therefore constitutes unsubstantiated allegations. Publishing the leaks was only a part – an especially ugly part – of the Post’s vendetta against Clinton.
It was still nothing compared to the New York Times.
To the editor:
For those of you who have been paying political attention, the GOP released a new policy program, the “Pledge to America”. I’m sure everyone has read this fascinating document, but if you haven’t I can summarize it for you.
“We, the GOP, know that you in America remember those good old days under George W. Bush, the 43rd President. We are going to restore those, 100%. More wars against non-enemies, more tax cuts for the rich, more protection for helpless bankers, and less regulation.”
If you loved George Bush and his Fascist Interregnum, the Republicans are what you want. Basically, the Republicans are asking a simple question: “How stupid are you? Did you forget in 2 years all of the incompetence, ineptitude, outright malfeasance, and criminal misconduct which took place during 2000-2008? If you did forget, vote Republican.”
So, how stupid are you?
It’s interesting that a fair number of those Redstate commenters are in agreement.
“General Petraeus [is] probably too proud to share a stage with Sarah Palin and Rick Santorum.“
Wanna bet? Petraeus is driven primarily by ambition, and his presidential ambitions have been clear for some time. His only truly exceptional skill is self-aggrandizement and self-promotion, and at that he is virtually a genius. Look how he managed to turn his serial failures in Iraq into glowing successes.
Credit where it’s due, Erik Erikson gave us a historical body blow. McClellan you may rememeber, was the War Dem opposing Lincoln in the election of 1864.
Fuck man, gotta read the last sentence before I post.
I still think it’s a historical slam at Dems and a pretty subtle one at that. Credit for being sneaky.
Oh, please. When Republicans speak of returning to their roots they are not referring to Lincoln. They are referring to John C. Calhoun, the direct ancestor of today’s “Republican” Party.