JournoList Sinks Lower

The Daily Caller has released the latest batch of JournoList messages, and it’s a shocker: the journalists and other assorted left-wing intellectuals (!) debating what apparently was the hottest topic of the hour, Sarah Palin’s son, Trig. I had thought that the belief that Trig was really Bristol’s baby was an insane idea held only by Andrew Sullivan. It is an insane idea all right, but it turns out that it was believed, or at least taken seriously, by a number of liberal journalists–while some others, to their credit, tried to restore a sense of decency to the liberal press. Beyond that, the tactics of how to spin Palin’s fifth child in a way that could damage the Republican ticket was seemingly an obsessive concern of these journalists. It is a sad spectacle.
Sarah Palin commented, with considerable restraint, on her Facebook page, in a post titled Journey Into the Media’s Heart of Darkness:

How ironic that on a day when we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, The Daily Caller released 15 pages of JournoListers’ email exchanges about a dark and demented conspiracy regarding my son, Trig.
It’s tough to fittingly describe these numerous members of the mainstream media who actively engaged in the debate about this conspiracy back when I was first introduced as John McCain’s running mate, and it’s impossible to legitimize any “prominent” media publication that continues to traffic in this bizarre narrative today. It wasn’t just a few fringe characters in that JournoList discussion. It included writers for major newspapers, magazines, and online news publications. Those participating in this immature exchange in attempts to plant seeds of doubt and falsely accuse even included a famous historian.
This JournoList exchange exposes the warped nature of today’s media, thus explaining why many of us are forced, in fairness to the public, to utilize other mediums to communicate until the mainstream media wakes up and begins respecting the public’s intelligence and desire for truth in reporting. There is a sickness and darkness in today’s liberal media. With revelations like the JournoList exchanges, may the light keep shining to expose the problem.

She’s right. If you read the liberal journalists’ comments on Palin’s disabled son, “sickness” and “darkness” are the words that come to mind.
One last observation: this contribution by one Lindsay Beyerstein
 is laugh-out-loud funny. She warns that the theory that Trig was Bristol’s baby may be a Republican dirty trick!

Lindsay Beyerstein
Aug 30, 2008, 11:20am
In the post-Rathergate era, journalists should be on their guard for Republican dirty tricks.
If this story gains traction, regardless of its truth or falsity, the Republicans will take steps to neutralize the meme.
It wouldn’t surprise me if the McCain campaign were to leak doctored evidence for the sole purpose of discrediting it and destroying the journalist who published it. That’s probably what the Killian memos were.
We should also be on guard for “evidence” falling into the lap of an unknown and easily discredited figure. That’s probably what Rove did to neutralize the allegations of cocaine use by George W. Bush, lo these many years ago.

That line belongs in the Hall of Fame of Self-Delusion: “In the post-Rathergate era, journalists should be on their guard for Republican dirty tricks.” These people are nuts.

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