Letters to the Editor
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too true
You forget to mention here what you say elsewhere: what a double standard it is. There is no similar requirement that conservative authors, columnists and pundits be "balanced". In fact, it is expected that they will behave precisely as movement conservatives and team players with the White House (or against it when a Dem is in it) and the RNC. Nobody says that because they are conservative they are "unbalanced," "shrill," or "unserious."
That's because in the current media template, conservatives are expected to be conservatives and liberals are expected to be "balanced." Balanced to the point that they aren't even actually, you know, liberals. Can you even imagine Jonah Goldberg pointing out in his latest ideological screed all the examples in which the Bush White House behaves exactly like fascists? It's inconceivable, yet no one expects it and he gets reviews and TV appearances aplenty.
When someone comes out with a book that really makes a strong case against Bush or the Republican Party -- you, Joe Conason, Eric Alterman, Molly Ivins, Paul Krugman, Al Gore (The Assault on Reason), the establishment media make sure that the authors are almost never invited to come on their teevee shows. Because they are exactly like Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh. Except for the fact that Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh are constantly invited to be on their teevee shows.
Amazing -- even after years and years of seeing this, it still makes my jaw drop.