If a journalist ever wanted to exhibit her spectacular ignorance and
bias, the Los Angeles Times'
Johanna Neuman
performed with flying colors. In
a recent blog post about the surprise congratulatory phone call from
the Bush family to Rush Limbaugh's radio show, Neuman offered,
We imagine the reason the tape has not yet popped up on YouTube
is that is was singularly lacking in the biting, mean-spirited,
politically pointed invective for which Limbaugh is known and
loved by millions.
"Mean-spirited"? "Invective"? Of course Neuman provides zero examples
to support her claim. Has Neuman ever even listened to Limbaugh's
program?
Amazingly (or maybe not), Neuman isn't just some dim liberal blogger.
She's a newswriter for the paper's Washington bureau. Good ... grief.
By the way, if Neuman ever wanted to see some real examples of
mean-spirited invective, she should look into her own operation. Just
last month, the Times posted a blog on the death of Tony Snow. They then
allowed readers, in their moderated comments section, to post
some of the most hate-filled, awful filth you could ever imagine. See:
"L.A. Times Commenters Joyously Revel in Tony Snow’s Death" and
"More Viciousness at the L.A. Times About Tony Snow" at
Patterico.com. Absolutely awful.
Neuman could also look in the mirror. When she penned
an article last week on the news that Robert Novak was diagnosed
with a brain tumor, Neuman spent well more than half of the article
revisiting the Valerie Plame affair. (She dug up the names of Rove and
Libby and Cheney, but she apparently found no room for the name
Richard Armitage, whom Novak actually identified as his primary
source.) More importantly, Neuman didn't bother to take the time to find
even one person to say some kind things about Mr. Novak and the
difficult situation he faces. Go figure.
We here at NewsBusters have also provided several documented
examples of true "mean-spirited invective." The names
Bill Maher
(this,
this, and
this, for example),
Keith Olbermann
(countless examples), and Randi Rhodes (this,
this, this,
this,
this,
this) stand out. (Add your memorable ones to the comments below.)
I also offer
the cruelest words I've ever heard on the radio. It's from July 2005
on Air America. The host was Sam Seder. Click the link at your own risk.
Disgusting.
Are you listening,
Johanna Neumann?