Because I grew up in the New York media market, for most of my childhood we had the New York Times delivered to our home. It was our paper, not the national paper or the “paper of record.” We all had our problems with it, but we also respected what they did. That’s why when the paper latched onto Whitewater like a pit bull and wouldn’t let go, most people from where I lived thought there must be something to it. We were wrong.
The lesson was learned, however, and it was learned again when the paper let Judith Miller run amok in the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq. The New York Times may have a liberal lean, if you will, but they are not reliably good at what they do. And probably no couple in America has more right to harbor resentments towards the Grey Lady than the Clintons. I am not surprised at all to learn that the Times is getting ready to peddle the work of one of Sarah Palin’s former advisors, with whom they have hashed out some kind of exclusive agreement to have access to his “opposition research.”
Far from getting a free ride in the press, Hillary Clinton will not even be getting a fair shake.
That’s actually one of several reasons why I am not enthusiastic about her candidacy, but I can’t blame her for this one.