unz | The Editorial page of The Washington Post newspaper
generally holds to its current progressive-dominated program consisting
of anti-racism, pro-diversity plus multiculturalism, “choice,” LGBTQ
“rights,” and, ironically, constant war. It is not noted for its sense
of humor except on Saturday morning when it runs a number of cartoons
ridiculing Donald Trump.
All of which contributed to my surprise when I read a piece on January 29th
penned by no less than Fred Hiatt, the Editorial and opinion pages
editor. Fred, a Harvard graduate, of course, has been around at The Post
since 2000. His foreign policy is pure John McCain and his domestic
policy is Elizabeth Warren. Apparently kicking around people overseas is
okay while in the United States white male Christian heterosexuals in
particular can be targeted with impunity, but no one else.
Hiatt’s piece entitled “Trump considers the media his enemy. We
shouldn’t treat him as ours” is the type of faux high-minded nonsense
that one expects from the new breed of journalist that considers that
reporting a story is not enough. For them, it is far more important to
actually be the story through selective use of available information and
the random insertion of opinion disguised as fact.
But back to Hiatt’s clearly robust sense of humor. He cited
presidential adviser Stephen Bannon’s labeling the media the “opposition
party,” noting that press-phobia is not exactly unusual for any White
House, but warning “it is vital that we not become that party.” Rather
than take on the Administration aggressively by exposing its lies,
shutting it out or “be[ing] the voice of the other side,” the media
should not “answer dishonest or partisan journalism” with “more partisan
journalism, which would only harm our credibility.”
Hiatt’s answer to the “dishonest or partisan” journalism problem is
“professionalism: to do your jobs according to the highest standards, as
always.” He then adds “So far, I believe The Post has been
setting the standard in this difficult job. It is not boasting for me to
say so…” Regarding his own particularly bailiwick the “opinion side of
the house…it is important to maintain a thoughtful perspective.”
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