Althouse: Joe the Journalist.

October 21, 2008

Joe the Journalist.

Where's the love for this Joe?

61 comments:

Dust Bunny Queen said...: From the comment thread at the original article.

"The point of the press is to report and question what people tell them. A critical press is essential to a functioning democracy"

True words. Since Joe and the other talking heads are not critical or unbaised journalists, they don't deserve a seat on the plane.

If you know that the press is only going to stab you in the back, distort what you say, do their very best to undermine you at every turn and at the same time do nothing but heap uncritical praise on your opponent, you would be an idiot to allow them within 10 yards of you.; 10/21/08, 11:09 AM
Henry said...: The last line of the article is a must-read:

UPDATE: Campaign spokesperson Michael Goldfarb responded that "we don't allow Daily Kos diarists on board either."

LOL.; 10/21/08, 11:09 AM
Simon said...: I subscribe to Time; I read Klein's column. In view of his recent columns, if I were the McCain campaign, the only reason I'd let him on the plane would be to throw him out of it from cruising altitude. With a parachute, of course! Of course, we can't do that, so the lesser step of preventing his getting on in the first place seems a reasonable compromise.

Like many of his colleagues, Klein has abandoned even the faintest pretense of objective journalism this cycle - so you tell me: why should the McCain camp give an all-access pass to someone who's the closest you can get to being on Obama's payroll without actually drawing any money? Michael Goldfarb is exactly right - they don't allow Kos diarists on board, and when "professional" journalists behave the same, why should they expect different treatment?; 10/21/08, 11:10 AM
Henry said...: Klein said, "I was even allowed—I won’t say welcomed—on the Clinton plane in the summer of 1996 after I was revealed as the author of Primary Colors.”

In other words, Klein admits he was a lying hack, but in journalism that shouldn't matter. (Think about that idea for a moment.)

Here's an aphorism:

Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small; 10/21/08, 11:14 AM
Simon said...: Clarification: by "professional journalist" I mean purely the strict meaning that Klein's primary income is derived from writing for the media, not that he is, in the common sense of the term, a professional, i.e. one who conducts himself in a manner appropriate to the standards that profession likes to pretend that it has. With a few honorable exceptions, my opinion of journalists has sunk to hitherto unknown depths this cycle.; 10/21/08, 11:14 AM
AlphaLiberal said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 10/21/08, 11:17 AM
AlphaLiberal said...: Joe Klein deserves credit for jumping off of the Media-McCain Love Boat very early. He saw McCain for the sad pathetic housebroken Republican he is.

By their treatment of Joe Klein and Maureen Dowd, the McCain -Palin camp is clearly seeking to intimidate reporters into giving them better coverage.

In the Republican (Bizarro) world, failure to write glowingly of Republicans is evidence of liberal bias.

No matter how dull and stinky the Republicans may be!; 10/21/08, 11:17 AM
AlphaLiberal said...: BTW, for those playing "connect the dots" at home, we have evidence of more disregard for the Fourth Estate by the McCainiacs.

Don't forget the recent cases where the news media were prevented by the Secret Service from interviewing attendees at McCain-Palin rallies. (Let alone by campaign staff trying to hide their embarrassing supporters).

That is a real stunning corruption of the Secret Service, turning them into political police repressing the press. We really should worry more for Barack Obama's safety knowing this Republican Secret Service is protecting him!

And then we have cases of physical assaults by the base Republican base upon reporters and the picture of Banana Republicans eschewing basic American values of freedom of the press becomes very clear.; 10/21/08, 11:21 AM
Henry said...: By their treatment of Joe Klein and Maureen Dowd, the McCain -Palin camp is clearly seeking to intimidate reporters into giving them better coverage.

Yeah, I saw that Maureen Dowd had also been banned from the plane.

I just can't figure that one out. Was there some point in the past when facts actually appeared in her column?; 10/21/08, 11:24 AM
Darcy said...: Where is the love? I do see the love, actually. Tough love.; 10/21/08, 11:30 AM
Buford Gooch said...: Alphie, the Secret Service prevents reporters in "the pool" from mingling with the crowd at all candidate events, not just the Republican ones. It's what they give up in exchange for closer access to the protectee. Any reporter can attend any rally and not be a member of the pool, and talk to anyone in the crowd.; 10/21/08, 11:32 AM
Simon said...: AlphaLiberal said...
"BTW, for those playing "connect the dots" at home, we have evidence of more disregard for the Fourth Estate by the McCainiacs."

No need to play connect the dots - the picture is perfectly clear. The Fourth Estate - with honorable exceptions - hates us and is determined to defeat our candidate; the feeling is mutual. Respect is earned, and they have forfeited it.

For what it's worth, while I agree that the media has always skewed left - and why wouldn't they, when almost to a man they are of the left? - I always thought that conservatives overstated the media bias issue. Sure, they were skewed, but I thought that conservatives sometimes used that as an excuse to dodge legitimate criticisms and points raised by the media. But this election cycle, they have been so plainly and actively an adjunct to the Obama campaign - brilliantly satirized by SNL back when Hillary was the primary target (remember that, Garage? I sometimes think lately that you've forgotten that it wasn't so long ago that you were the target) - that they were already set to end the year on a new low. But then something happened: since 8/29, the media has waged undisguised, unvarnished war on Sarah Palin that has been absolutely astonishing in its ferocity, its hypocrisy, it's undisguised misogyny. The Fourth Estate? They deserve the fate of the Second.; 10/21/08, 11:38 AM
Brian Doyle said...: The comparison of Joe Klein to a Daily Kos diarist suggests that only hardcore wingnuts and sycophants like Michael Scherer will be tolerated by Mr. Straight Talk.; 10/21/08, 11:40 AM
Simon said...: Doyle, if you and Alpha really can't tell the difference between wanting press coverage to not skew left and go out of its way to help Obama, on the one hand, and demanding sycophancy on the other, I don't know that you're smart enough to read a newspaper.; 10/21/08, 11:45 AM
Spread Eagle said...: I always thought that conservatives overstated the media bias issue

It was never overstated. If anything it has always been understated. The only difference is in previous years they made a serious effort to obfuscate it while doing it. They don't make that effort anymore.; 10/21/08, 11:51 AM
George M. Spencer said...: "....writing about Clinton has made Klein a multimillionaire. Primary Colors - its sales and its film deal - put him, as he himself puts it, in 'the top 1 per cent'."

Enjoy your candidate's new taxes, Joe.; 10/21/08, 11:54 AM
Anonymous said...: Its not as if he's going to get any information on the plane that would change what he would write.; 10/21/08, 11:55 AM
Brian Doyle said...: I don't know that you're smart enough to read a newspaper.

Whatever. If the old coot doesn't want big meanie Joe Klein on his plane, that's fine. He's about to get a historic ass-whupping anyway so whatever makes him more comfortable in the meantime.

It's just too bad Time puts up with it.; 10/21/08, 12:00 PM
Brian Doyle said...: And if McCain didn't want journalists to write mean things about him, he shouldn't have run such a pathetic, disgraceful campaign.; 10/21/08, 12:02 PM
Buford Gooch said...: Doyle, you are such a tool. And a dull one.; 10/21/08, 12:09 PM
Simon said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 10/21/08, 12:10 PM
Trooper York said...: The press is the enemy of not just the Republicans or conservative candidates but of normal blue collar working class Americans. They reek of condescension and contempt and the attempted evisceration of Sarah Palin and Joe the Plumber is just the latest example of what they are really about. They have nothing but contempt for average Americans and now those Americans are replying in kind. If they want to cover the campaign they should pool their resources to pay for their own transportation. Hopefully the increased cost will cause more of these rags to fold. No loss. You can use a paper towel to line your birdcage or a Ziploc for your fish.

They are the enemy. They deserve no consideration. They deserve no quarter. Sound
El Deguello so they know where we stand.

The only thing worse than a journalist is a lawyer.; 10/21/08, 12:14 PM
Bob said...: So we know that Maureen and this Joe are no longer on the short list for seats. Who is now on the plane instead? That might show us whether McCain is getting smarter and actually going to web or CSPAN. Or whether its the same crowd but a different name.; 10/21/08, 12:19 PM
Republican said...: Of course Klein lives in a world where it's okay to insult people without being held accountable.

People like him are always surprised like that, unless they are on the receiving end of the diss.; 10/21/08, 12:19 PM
Brian Doyle said...: Not every American is a skin-headed Republican unlicensed plumber in Ohio, and that's for the best.

Nor does every American identify with or like Sarah Palin. In fact more Americans dislike her than like her.

But surely this is all the media's fault. If they hadn't asked Miss Wasilla such hard questions (like "What newspapers do you read?")!; 10/21/08, 12:20 PM
Brian Doyle said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 10/21/08, 12:21 PM
X said...: when modo & jokl want on the plane, they are mo/jo the journalists. when they write their columns, they are mo/jo the pundits unconstrained by jounalistic objectivity. mccain decided not to play their reindeer game.; 10/21/08, 12:21 PM
Brian Doyle said...: Don't tell me that McCain didn't try, you little cunt

LOL. Makes my day.

And Simon, could you tell me what country I'm in? Because even though I may not live in "real America" or a "pro-America" state, I think it's still nominally part of the United States.; 10/21/08, 12:23 PM
Trooper York said...: Plus we know that Klein is a lying sack of shit as he denied over and over again that he was the author of Primary Colors for pecuniary gain at the expense of "The Truth."

Journalists are like maggots that devour rotting flesh. They have a place in our political eco-system but they are disgusting parasites and should be squashed at every opportunity.

The only thing worse than a journalist is a lawyer.; 10/21/08, 12:23 PM
garage mahal said...: Nor does every American identify with or like Sarah Palin. In fact more Americans dislike her than like her.

People that don't like Palin aren't from Real America. You know, like that old Real American at the McCain rally with the massive bedhead saying she didn't trust Obama because he's an Aye-Rab.; 10/21/08, 12:30 PM
MadisonMan said...: The only thing worse than a journalist is a lawyer.

You say that a lot, and it ignores the good that journalists have done for this country.

I think the real problem with journalism is the decline of competition. Back when there was more than one paper in town, journalists actually had to work for scoops, and they actually had to be entertaining writers. No more.

Everything now is driven by the bottom line, usually to a company that sits somewhere away from the town being covered. There is no incentive to write a good story -- because a better story won't be written in the competition, becaue the competition is out of business. So good stories aren't written.; 10/21/08, 12:31 PM
jimspice said...: Let's not forget the McCain Campaign's bundled undies over Campbell Brown's "over the line" interview of campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds.; 10/21/08, 12:33 PM
Trooper York said...: "Not every American is a skin-headed Republican unlicensed plumber in Ohio, and that's for the best.

Nor does every American identify with or like Sarah Palin. In fact more Americans dislike her than like her."

That is correct. So they should interview the college professors and ambulance chasing shyster and non-profit working leeches that are their readership. Don't look for any slack or the merest consideration. The uber-liberal intelligentsia that drips contempt for plumbers and everyday Americans

Doyle lives in Flushing where the Nanny Bloomberg has a crooked deal to use eminent domain to displace the working men and women who own salvage yards and junk yards in the Willets Point section of Queens. There is a huge controversy where everyday workingmen are losing their jobs and small businesses are being forced out of family businesses that have been there for more than forty years. But the whore journalists would never investigate that. That won’t be on the front page of the paper or lead the TV news. That’s not important. Those guys didn’t go to Harvard or Yale. They are immigrants and people at the fringes of society. You know the ones commie jizz bags that are community organizers or investigative journalists claim that they care about. But they don’t.

They are the enemy. They deserve no consideration. They deserve no quarter. Sound El Deguello so they know where we stand.

The only thing worse than a journalist is a lawyer.; 10/21/08, 12:36 PM
Brian Doyle said...: Doyle lives in Flushing

Brooklyn, actually. Flushing's just where the greatest baseball team evah plays.; 10/21/08, 12:41 PM
Anonymous said...: Journalists are arrogant.

McCain allowing Klein/Dowd/Olbermann types on the plane is like Ann Althouse renting a private jet to fly to NYC and inviting Glenn Greenwald/Jessica Valenti/and some of her haters in the comment section to tag along for the flight.

Why?; 10/21/08, 12:43 PM
Rose said...: What do I feel worse about? Klein not getting on the bus? Or this?
They came for Jessica, and I will not be silent
Obama's henchmen and the rise of commufascism
...When Missouri prosecutor Bob McCulloch takes to the air waives, placing the public on notice that he is a member of Mr. Obama's "truth squad" and that he and other Missouri prosecutors and law enforcement officials plan to "respond immediately" to any critical speech concerning Mr. Obama that "might violate Missouri ethics laws," the message, with all of its implications, is crystal clear – "speak out against our beloved leader and all the fury of the state will fall on you." Mr. McCulloch has since claimed that he was speaking only in his personal capacity – a strange assertion considering that he has no personal capacity to "respond ... [to] violat[ions] of Missouri ethics laws."...

Do I feel worse about what is happening to Joe the Plumber in contrast to the absolute lack of scrutiny of the Annenberg Challenge?

Something happened to journalism, journalistic integrity. Can it be restored?

In our post-Watergate mentality
we look to the media, we trusted the Press to be a de-facto arm of the law, a watchdog, there to point out transgressions, and uncover the truth, expose wrongdoing, not just print the easy rhetoric and perpetuate the lies. And that faith has been completely misplaced. The media has failed miserably. Is it too late to fix it?; 10/21/08, 12:44 PM
Trooper York said...: Sorry Doyle. I was mistaken. Can we agree that Flushing is where your heart resides?; 10/21/08, 12:46 PM
Darcy said...: Interesting, Trooper. I hadn't heard anything about the Willet's Point takings. But I'm in Michigan, so no surprise, and as you said, the journos are not interested. I'd like to know more about it, though...will check it out, thanks!; 10/21/08, 12:46 PM
Simon said...: Doyle said...
"Simon, could you tell me what country I'm in? Because even though I may not live in 'real America' or a 'pro-America' state, I think it's still nominally part of the United States."

I could have sworn that you said not long ago that you'd moved abroad. I apologize if I got that wrong, and amend my earlier comment consistent with this.; 10/21/08, 12:55 PM
Trooper York said...: Madison Man you are a decent and principled man. I would be happy to read and give careful consideration to something you might write. But journalists in this campaign have forfeited any break that we might give them. Since the days of James Callender at the dawn of the Republic, through the excesses of James Gordon Bennett and Horace Greeley during the Civil War, to the times of yellow journalism of Hearst and Pulitzer the press has served as a cancer on the body politic. Partisan journalism has been the norm more than the exception in the history of our republic. Their most prestigious award is named after a hack that gave us an illegal and unnecessary war (the Spanish American) that would make them shit their pants if it happened today. Today it has changed from “Remember the Maine” to “We have to get past 911.”

They claim a special consideration that they do not deserve. They try to destroy Joe the Plumber because he does not have a license. Where did they get their journalistic license?
They are without exception worthless hacks that deserve our contempt. I would never stop them from printing their lies and fables. They must be protected and allowed to do so at all costs. But they should know that we are on to their game. Do not make their jobs easier. Show them that we know what they are about. That we have contempt for them and their lies and bias and fabrications

They are the enemy. They deserve no consideration. They deserve no quarter. Sound El Deguello so they know where we stand.

The only thing worse than a journalist is a lawyer.; 10/21/08, 12:59 PM
Simon said...: MadisonMan said...
"[Trooper said,] The only thing worse than a journalist is a lawyer. You say that a lot, and it ignores the good that journalists have done for this country."

You say that, and it ignores that any good that might have been done for the country by a past generation of journalists by no means excuses the harm now being done by the present one.

We are not going to go so far as Palpatine - "every single journalist is now an enemy of the Republic." Or even the married ones. I have friends who are journalists, and there are some journalists - yes, even left-leaning ones - who I respect and who I think are throwing straight dice. But the behavior of the media this season has been unforgivable, and the media in abstracto can accurately be said to have operated as a subsidiary of the Obama campaign, and to the extent that a subset generally shares the characteristic of a superset, are part of a machine that has its mind set on causing great harm to this country and its Constitution. In most campaign seasons, the other side is the opposition. In this one, for me, because of their own conduct and choices, they have made themselves the enemy. I think that many people on both sides now share that sentiment. That's a sad reflection on where we've arrived at as a nation.; 10/21/08, 1:04 PM
Trooper York said...: Joe Klein is perhaps the most partisan Democratic douche bag you could find in a month of Sundays. He is Helen Thomas without the moustache.; 10/21/08, 1:12 PM
reader_iam said...: Well, holy shit. When did they stop selling the New York Daily News, The New York Observer, the New York Post, The Epoch Times, any number of Queens papers, and for that matter, Crain's Business in New York?!?

Wow, now that is news!; 10/21/08, 1:25 PM
reader_iam said...: I know it can't be that Trooper can't read. So it must be that none of those papers are available.

Oh, wait. Trooper doesn't believe in the press, therefore he doesn't buy them. That must be why he has such an excellent grasp of what's "never seen" or not in them. That, and his apparent unwillingness to Google to get the same info for free.; 10/21/08, 1:30 PM
reader_iam said...: From what I'm seeing, it's not clear that the plan will pass the City Council on Nov. 12, due to all the controversy.

Now, how could I possibly know that?

I MUST BE A MIND READER!!!; 10/21/08, 1:35 PM
Roger J. said...: Simon: I think you are mistaking Doyle for Downtownlad. Doyle would never leave his Mets.; 10/21/08, 1:53 PM
MadisonMan said...: they have made themselves the enemy

This is a dreadful way to refer to fellow citizens.

Just say'n.; 10/21/08, 1:53 PM
Darcy said...: I took Trooper to mean that the coverage has been biased, or not properly investigative, reader_iam.
Which is pretty common with eminent domain, I think.

We have a guy here in Michigan who lost valuable lakefront property when the city he lived in chose to raise the lake level. He lost the deal on his land for development, and ultimately his home after trying to fight this...at the very least trying to get the city to pay for land taken through inverse condemnation. The articles written about it have been shoddy and barely factual, in my opinion.; 10/21/08, 1:57 PM
Trooper York said...: "I MUST BE A MIND READER!!!"

No just a mindless defender of the journalistic status quo. It stems from her days as Janie Olsen at the Daily Planet. I do read the papers. I don’t have to buy them because I get them for free. I will not give them my money. The Post and the Daily Snooze do a totally inadequate job of covering the city and the rape of same by Nanny Bloomberg and his real estate buddies. Now they are laying back and spreading it for Bloomberg while he pushes through a change in term limits so he can be boss man for four more years and cut more crooked deals. Because there is no one else in the United States who could possibly be able to handle the job.

The press is the enemy of the working man and the people who own small businesses. I have been approached by so called "journalists" who would review our store if we buy advertising. I have seen them get every, and I mean every story that I know something about totally wrong. They are corrupt and worthless. They should be free to spew their vile lies and calumny because we honor the first amendment. But we should return the contempt they show us in spades.

The only thing worse than a journalist is a lawyer.; 10/21/08, 2:00 PM
Roger J. said...: Madison Man--while you always manage to take the high ground, I have to tell you I side with Simon on this one. The majority of the American media has become nakedly partisan; and when they do that they surrender any high ground they might have had. Perhaps you regard the sliming of Governor Palin's family, and Joe the Plumber, as hard hitting journalism. If you do, thats genuinely sad. And if you think the media has been objective in this campaign, thats even sadder.

Like Simon, and Trooper, I do in fact regard them as politically biased, lying hacks who reprehesible conduct and violation of any pretext of journalistic "ethics" have indeed made them my enemy.

Just sayin.; 10/21/08, 2:04 PM
mccullough said...: Doyle,

As a former reporter, I can tell you the Secret Service gives you special access but you have the designated area. So you can't jump from the backstage pass into the crowd and back.

If you want to cover the crowd, you can cover the crowd. If you want the backstage pass, you have to stay in that area. The reason is the Secret Service searches you initially and then lets you into the special access area. Since their job is to guard the candidate, they can't have you going back and forth after they've searched you.

So don't impugn the Secret Service. They're very friendly to the media and don't show a hint of bias against any candidate or media outlet.

Unlike, say, the actual news media, who has done a poor job reporting this election cycle. It's fine that they're tough on McCain, but they give Obama a pass.

As for Joe Klein, isn't it time Time got some new blood in there. The fact that he's covered 9 presidential campaigns means he should probably retire, along with Maureen Dowd and others.

Lets get some new faces to cover a new President, not the same old, dried out hacks.; 10/21/08, 2:05 PM
Trooper York said...: “they have made themselves the enemy

This is a dreadful way to refer to fellow citizens.”

That would be true if they considered themselves citizens. They consider themselves journalists first and foremost. I have no doubt that they would reveal secrets of military operations or protective measures to safeguard our ports and facilities. If you doubt that, then you have not heard of the New York Times.

Time after time their behavior has shown that they have opted out of the compact shared by the citizens of our nation for greed. Greed for fame, for renown, for prizes or for filthy lucre. They are jackals and parasites.

The only thing worse than a journalist is a lawyer.; 10/21/08, 2:07 PM
Roger J. said...: Trooper: perhaps the only thing worse is a lawyer who becomes a journalist-; 10/21/08, 2:15 PM
Trooper York said...: Actually the very worst thing is a stripper who becomes a taxidermist. But that’s another story best not gone into here.; 10/21/08, 2:17 PM
Simon said...: Roger J. said...
"Simon: I think you are mistaking Doyle for Downtownlad. Doyle would never leave his Mets."

Ah, heck - now you say that, I'm certain you're right. Doyle, I apologize again, that was a total snafu on my part.

MadisonMan said...
"['They have made themselves the enemy'] is a dreadful way to refer to fellow citizens. Just say'n."

It's dreadful to have to do so, MM. Just say'n.

Trooper York said...
"I have no doubt that they would reveal secrets of military operations or protective measures to safeguard our ports and facilities."

Again. You have no reason to doubt that they would do it again.; 10/21/08, 2:47 PM
Jon said...: Doyle said: "Nor does every American identify with or like Sarah Palin. In fact more Americans dislike her than like her."

Actually, according to yesterday's CNN poll, her favorable rating is 52%, vs. 41% unfavorable.; 10/21/08, 3:03 PM
blake said...: Simon: they have made themselves the enemy

MadisonMan: This is a dreadful way to refer to fellow citizens.

And yet.

How else do you describe a guy like Ayers, who declares war on the country?

Now, how do you describe the people who enable him? The people who whitewash his story, who rationalize it, who give him tenure and political power?

It's far more dreadful to pretend the enemy isn't.; 10/21/08, 3:23 PM
blake said...: I read a long time ago that the only thing one has to remember about journalists is that they make up the story first and go collect the facts after.

I thought it was a humorous exaggeration. I don't think that any more. (Actually, I've heard confirmation from ex-journalists that this is the case.)

Right now, "the story" is a left-wing, pro-Democrat one. In the past, it's been a right-wing one.

Either way, Troop is right.

Consider this: Were the Press doing its job, a lot of horrible things that have gone on in this country's history might never have happened.

An educated populace is central to any democracy, and journalists consistently fail to deliver that.; 10/21/08, 3:27 PM
KCFleming said...: I'm with Trooper here. I absolutely despise the news media.

Now I know why my grandma used to yell at the TV all the time. "Whatta pile a crap!" she'd say. She was perty smart.

I do myself now consider them the enemy, and I am quite serious. I answer every one of the subscription calls from the Star and Sickle and Pioneer Press with No thanks. I don't donate to the DFL. (MN Democrat-Farm-Labor)
Effing liars.; 10/21/08, 3:28 PM
rcocean said...: As usual, Trooper understates the case.; 10/21/08, 10:40 PM
Ctmom said...: Fourth Estate = Fifth Column; 10/22/08, 12:43 AM