Steve Clemons (WN) defends VandeHei and cautions Scandalmongering Blogs

[KoKo]

In the "Washington Note" Clemons relays a comment Vanderhei makes about how he doesn't read blogs but does think "WN" is worth a read. Clemons then falls all over himself to say that Blogs fall into "scandalmongering when they report that VandeHei's wife was a staffer to Tom DeLay.

This is what's wrong with the Beltway Crowd and their "Journalism Buddies."
They just don't see that there's something wrong with Nepotism that's hurting our whole democracy. I expected better from Clemons. I wonder what he thinks about Luke Russert, (Big Tim's 19 year old son) teaming up with James Carville for a Sports Show on XM Radio? I guess the pimping and hyping of Carville/Begalla's book on MTP, Sunday, wouldn't bother him either.

------------------------------

Here's a snip: STEVE CLEMONS: WASHINGTON NOTE

I don't know Jim VandeHei personally and was proud of the comment he shared, but the occasion of his mention makes me raise a second point that I think that the liberal and conservative blogging communities need to seriously address.

Blogging, to some degree, has taken some elements of political journalism back to the days of "Scandalmongering" which to me seems like an appropriate description of the rampant political pampleteering in the early period of America's birth as a nation.

James Callendar was one such famous "scandalmonger", but there were many others. William Safire wrote a fun but not widely read book titled Scandalmonger about yellow journalism and the early political feuds between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson. Although a used copy in "good condition" of Safire's book can be acquired for a mere penny plus shipping from Amazon, it is worth considerably more and should be read to remind us what out of control, sloppy, and often slanderous journalism looked like.

-snip-

What has bothered me is that for the last several days, there have been clusters of liberal bloggers who have been hyperventilating over the fact that VandeHei's wife used to be a social/family policy advisor in the office of Congressman Tom DeLay, when he was Majority Whip. They have used this as evidence in their assessments that VandeHei must be an "unfair" journalist, tilting to the right, allegedly not asking conservatives the "tough questions" and giving liberals a tough time -- particularly in his coverage of the Valerie Plame investigation.

MORE.....at...
http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/001197.php

[SoCalDem]

1. If she WAS a staffer to Tom Delay, he's got NO cause to whine

when people remind others of that fact. These "news" types should be extra careful with the employment of their spouses/children. Same goes for wives & kiddies of legislators.

Family income includes ALL family members. If you are a "journalist" (which he probably WAS during her tenure at Tom's place) how could you possible even WANT to delve into Tom's issues if it meant that your wife's income could be affected? And she probably made some friends there that she might still be reluctant to "out"..

It's definitely time to call these people out.

[rinsd]

2. Safire's book was a great read.

I really enjoyed it as a historical narrative.

[KoKo]

3. Steve Clemons was a "Good Guy" for us on Bolton Nomination...and he's

the head of one of our NEW Dem THINK TANKS...but...this post and some others of his...sort of made me worry if he's "all ego...with good connections...and little substance, beyond getting $$$$$$$'s for Speaking fee's. :shrug:

The Comments Section on his site are worth a read. Lot's of very good thinkers there....:shrug:

[KoKo]

4. What's worrysome is that Steve Clemons is a Big Guy in our Dem Think Tank

"New America Foundation." He's flying all over the world..as a counter to the RW Think tanks like AEI, Heritage and others...yet he seems to be falling into THEIR PATTERN where he FORGIVES the PAYOLA TRANSGRESSIONS of his Buddies...at the expense of creating a NEW CULTURE.

I like Clemons..his work on Bolton was Great...but he's in danger of going over to the "Dark Side." We need to pull him back on "Ethics Issues" that he seems "clueless" about. :shrug: