As for those bloggers, the ones "tainted" by having ideological motives -- unlike our patriotic politicians, mind you -- Halperin generously allowed that "I don't mind if people blog -- but they should apply high standards of journalism," and "they should focus on news organizations when they fail to meet the standards of the profession," i.e., accuracy and objectivity. In fact, he said, "the best solution is for serious consumers of news to write letters to the editor."
There are so many things wrong with this quote, if it is indeed a quote (no link provided in the original), that it is easiest to work through it. I shall start with the end and move backward. First, "the best solution for serious consumers of news [is] to write letters to the editor"? Oh. Sweet. Loving. Jesus. How noblesse oblige can one get (actually, he does get worse, as I shall point out anon)? We ordinary non-journalist citizens should not voice our complaints about the abysmal performance of major journalists on blogs. We shouldn't point out glaring errors of fact or analysis, errors that include not taking into account all available information, context, history, etc. No, we should just write letters to the editor. Please, keep me from weeping . . .
As for those alleged "high standards of journalism", I'm still waiting to see those in action. Seriously. This past week, with the Pelosi trip to Syria still fresh in our minds, how would Halperin account for the press' almost universal bleating of Republican talking points, unless he is willing to concede that these so-called high standards of his were honored more in the breach than in practice? This is just one example, but we could write a whole series of posts, indeed a whole blog about this subject. You know, kind of like Media Matters for America.
The most egregious statement is "I don't mind if people blog". I am so glad I have the imprimatur of a serious person like Halperin for what I am doing. I can now sleep because I have his permission. I honestly think Halperin has no idea how ridiculous, how inane, and how comical a fellow he has just made himself. He has, with the words quoted above (even if not direct quotes, they may just perhaps reflect the essence of his remarks), completely and utterly removed himself from consideration as a person to be taken seriously.
Glenn Greenwald has more.
