"Malibu" - Hole
Thanks to bigbadwolf for the inspiration for this one.
Exciting and disappointing day on the World cup front for the U.S. The son and I watched in a packed barroom in Georgetown. One of my neighbors said she was in a packed bar downtown. And novices got to see what is so compelling about the game I think -- even with only a couple of goals scored, the excitement and tension were pretty relentless. I thought the Americans acquitted themselves well -- they had two lapses and paid the price, which is the reality of being in the big time. Mistakes are punished. Ghana was the more opportunistic team, although I felt like the U.S. controlled the majority of the game. No shame in this loss.
Speaking of shame, the utterly shameless Washington Post keeps making the Weigel firing look worse. Today it is the ombudsman weighing in with the contention that the "Post has lost standing with conservatives" for having allowed Weigel to cover the movement in the first place. And why is that? Well, Weigel had opinions you see and no objective journalist is allowed to have opinions.
He said that when Weigel was hired, he was vetted in the same way that other prospective Post journalists are screened. He interviewed with a variety of top editors, his writings were reviewed and his references were checked, Narisetti said.
“But we’re living in an era when maybe we need to add a level” of inquiry, he said. “It may be in our interests to ask potential reporters: ‘In private... have you expressed any opinions that would make it difficult for you to do your job.”
Weigel’s exit, and the events that prompted it, have further damaged The Post among conservatives who believe it is not properly attuned to their ideology or activities. Ironically, Weigel was hired to address precisely those concerns.
This notion that there are objective reporters who don't have opinions about things is just bunk. Anyone who doesn't have an opinion about today's conservative movement is either a liar or a fool. Which one would the Post prefer to have on staff -- oh shit, I forgot -- they don't have to choose with the likes of Thiessen, Will and Gerson on the Op-Ed page.
Not once, but twice in the article does the ombudsman rue the Post's offending of conservatives:
Alas, it took only one listserv participant to bundle up Weigel’s archived comments and start leaking them outside the group. The result is that Weigel lost his job. But the bigger loss is The Post’s standing among conservatives.
The "working of the refs" by right-wingers over the past thirty-plus years has borne remarkable fruit for them. Dave Weigel's head on a platter is just their latest trophy. The soul of the Washington Post was the bigger get -- and they have had that one for a long time.
