THE PRESS AND THE DEMS….Bob Somerby is convinced that liberals will never get anywhere until they truly understand the media’s loathing of Democrats. Not the conservative media’s loathing of Democrats, but the mainstream media’s loathing of Democrats. He’s further convinced that the key to this is understanding the press corps’ “War on Gore” during the 1999-2000 campaign, a subject he discusses on pretty much a daily basis.
As it happens, I disagree with him on the second point. Bob thinks liberals are obtuse for not discussing the Gore story more vigorously, but the fact is that bloggers and columnists don’t talk about any past events with any frequency. They talk about current events, with occasional nods to the past when it happens to illuminate some point they want to make. Like it or not, obsessing over the past just has limited utility.
Why bring this up? Just in the mood, I guess, after writing my previous post. Bob has a post on the subject today in which he takes on Josh Marshall, E.J. Dionne, Chris Matthews, and me in his usual, um, restrained fashion. So here’s an open thread topic: go read Bob’s piece and then discuss it in comments. Is his diagnosis right? Half right? How and why? Talk to me.
UPDATE: Second paragraph modified because I realized that it didn’t really make sense. Sorry.
