We've seen it coming for a long time, of course, but I suspect that the firing of Dan Froomkin from the Washington Post may be seen as the moment when the patient finally rolled over and gasped his last breath. The decision to fire the most consistently interesting writer they have on their op-ed pages is stupid enough to take anyone's breath away. Here was a journalist who held the White House accountable, regardless of who occupied it. He even had the guts to deliver a smackdown of his fellow columnist Charles Krauthammer when that paragon of conservative thought tried to justify torture.
Of course, you can't have that. So here is today's op-ed page, a taste of things to come:
Of course, you can't have that. So here is today's op-ed page, a taste of things to come:
Former CIA Director Hayden informs us how shameful it is that someone should be pestered during confirmation hearings just because he played a part in the American torture program, while Krauthammer, David Ignatius and special guest star Paul Wolfowitz tell us that Obama is wrong, wrong I tell you, not to interfere in the events in Iran. Former Bush speech writer Michael Gerson laments the fact that PBS has driven religious programming from its schedule, and intern Alexandra Petri explains that the Ensign scandal is no problem for the GOP, as the senator doesn't have a large following on Facebook anyway, so what's the big deal?
Token "liberal" of the day: Retired General John M. Shalikashvili, who makes the provocative point that the US Armed Forces will not unravel and surrender to Osama bin Laden if gays are allowed to serve. Well, knock me down with a feather...
There you have it: Fred Hiatt brings you fair and balanced news, soon available in a new and improved format, unsmirched by discouraging words from nasty truth-tellers.
I think I'll follow Dan Froomkin out the door.
Token "liberal" of the day: Retired General John M. Shalikashvili, who makes the provocative point that the US Armed Forces will not unravel and surrender to Osama bin Laden if gays are allowed to serve. Well, knock me down with a feather...
There you have it: Fred Hiatt brings you fair and balanced news, soon available in a new and improved format, unsmirched by discouraging words from nasty truth-tellers.
I think I'll follow Dan Froomkin out the door.
Update:
I guess great minds think alike. They even choose the same screenshots!
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Rick Lucke
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In polls on issues such as whether the architects of the torture policy should be prosecuted, and whether detainees should be released unless charged and convicted, the majority of US voters are opposed to the media and Republicrat consensus. This might be because of the work of people like Froomkin, Jane Mayer, etc, whose work stands out from the usual media noise.
Perhaps the political/media establishment will decide that while such gadflies are good for ratings, it will be necessary to shut out those independent-minded journalists before the next big crisis.
After all, Cheney wouldn't be spouting off every week, and Obama wouldn't be squirming and scheming to find a way to sweep the torture program back under the rug, if none of the major media had carried the story in the first place.