With apologies to Kevin Drum, who was pretty damn clever to try to name that phenomenon after himself, I still prefer the term "nutpicking" for boosting anonymous comments up to the level of "the views of the left".

As to Howie Kurtz, there is no bigger "useful idiot" in the media today. He is utterly incapable of finding the important point of any story he covers. Also, he's the right wing's dream columnist, in that he repeats every smear job the put forward with such neutral and brief commentary that he carries water for people even when claiming their attacks aren't exactly fair, per se.

It needs to be pointed out that it is fully probably that at least some the rabid "left wing" posters are actually shills for the right wing? Some of them are just totally apolitical -- they just want to get a rise out of everyone.

The common Internet jargon for it is "troll," which is used often in these comments sections.

That is quite funny how you predicted he would write about this. This is actually pretty important.

One of the reasons (imo) for the rise of the Pro-Republican media was their ability to be unpredictable (especially against Democrats or any non-Republican in counter-point interviews). This put people on the defensive right away, rarely getting up. Even if their unpredictability hinged on them sinking lower (perhaps they have sunk as far as possible).

Either way, once they become overtly predictable (which they appear to be) they can be defeated. When they sound more insane/nonsensical/contradictory they can simply be defeated by their own arguments: so simply that it can be done in a 30 second interview. It's only a matter of time... hopefully not much time.

I'm going to buy stock in the fainting couch sector. Sales must be roaring with all these disingenous media figures expressing all their mock outrage.

I can't wait to see the Malkins of the world respond to Ted Rall's latest cartoon.

The question that should be asked is who benefits from the presence of these comments? The rabid right. If they didn't exist, they would have to plant them. And perhaps some of them were planted by trolls in disguise.

What I don't understand is why when this is brought up, the representatives of the left don't simply have a cache of equally vile things said on neocon boards or blogs or radio transcripts? It is not like they're in short supply.

Everytime Kurtz or Malin says something, shouldn't the question be "How do you feel about Frank Gaffney's call for the execution of US Congressmen?" and then not let them off the hook until they either answer or denounce him.

I agree that its fairly obvious that many if not all of these nutpicked comments are right wing trolls. They copy the language and tone of right wing rants against the democrats, progressives, liberals, etc. These posts are nothing at all like comments by people who read, listen to, and write in progressive media.

Given the speed that Malkin, Hannity, etc find these comments before they are deleted, it would not be shocking to find out they have their own interns writing them. That would be so much more efficient than waiting for their followers to send them in and sorting through the emails.

Of course his wife is Sheri Annis, the Republican PR strategist. http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/720.html

Remember how Kurtz reported the Guckert/Gannon press stooge scandal. He emphasized the sex and personal side of the story as opposed to the breach in intelligence issue. The idea that this Congressionally uncleared "prostitute" was posing as a legitimate press representative and had the cooperation of the administration in so doing was the story. Kurtz pretends to be unbiased enough to cover the story and then does such a terrible job covering the story, it may as well have been not covered at all. "Use the Google!"

Online Reporter Quits After Liberals' Expose (washingtonpost.com)By Howard Kurtz. Washington Post Staff Writer ... is actually James Dale Guckert, 47, and has been linked to online domain addresses with sexually ...

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12640-2005Feb9.html - Similar pages

Jeff Gannon Admits Past 'Mistakes,' Berates Critics ...By Howard Kurtz. Washington Post Staff Writer ... James Dale Guckert, and a Web page, which he paid for, featuring X-rated photos of himself. ...

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36733-2005Feb18.html - Similar pages

Roger AilesKURTZ: That's a very legitimate question, Bill. But it was the personal stuff I think that drove Gannon or Guckert to resign. ...

rogerailes.blogspot.com/2005_02_13_rogerailes_archive.html - 46k - Cached - Similar pages

BuzzFlash > Editorial > Wanted: An Investigative Reporter to Break ...The recent Wolf Blitzer-Howard Kurtz CNN program blowing off of the Gannon/Guckert scandal as a "piffle" was a mindboggling, specious, unprofessional effort ...

www.buzzflash.com/editorial/05/02/edi05029.html - 17k - Cached - Similar pages

BuzzFlash > Editorial > GOP Hypocrite of the Week: Howard KurtzIn short, Kurtz made Gannon (aka James Guckert) out to be the victim of some sort of liberal witch hunt. Following the Gannon story, anyone with half a ...

www.buzzflash.com/editorial/05/02/edi05028.html - 10k - Cached - Similar pages

Who's to say that 100 out of 200 of these commenters, or more, were not wingnuts who, sensing an opportunity, sacraficed their keyboards for the Cause, in this case embarrassing Arianna and the Left?

"Isn't it long overdue that someone tell Kurtz that he needs to try harder if he wants to maintain his pretense of nonpartisan, above-it-all, objective media observer?"

He's not trying very hard lately. When he did a puff piece on Malkin and noted that her home address had been outed, without bothering to note some fool did this in reaction to Malkin's practice of posting the home addresses of some poor kids who's politics she didn't like, he played fast and loose with his own ethics.

Kurtz only plays a media watchdog on television. In print he's not a watchdog, he's a two-bit attack dog. The man uses Malkin as his source to go after left-wing blog anger. That is confoundingly hypocritical.