Alex Koppelman, Salon: "Why the hell would Politico run this?"

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Friday, Mar 19, 2010 12:50 EDTPolitico taps Bachmann, King for worst Op-Ed ever

Conservative Reps. Michele Bachmann and Steve King join forces for silly Op-Ed on healthcare reform

By Alex Koppelman



If someone came up to me one day and said, "Alex, I want to run the worst possible Op-Ed I can find. It has to be just totally pointless, misleading, free of actual facts or evidence and based solely on ideology, and it also has to be co-authored by two members of Congress -- who should I get to write it?" I would answer, without hesitating, "Reps. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., and Steve King, R-Iowa." (Truth be told, I probably wouldn't include the IDs in spoken form, but indulge me on this.)

Then I'd start laughing, and I'd say, "But no one would ever be crass enough, or irresponsible enough, to run that Op-Ed."

And I'd be wrong. Because on Friday, Politico ran an Op-Ed by Bachmann and King about healthcare reform, and it is just as bad as you could expect it to be -- worse, maybe. So there's one very simple question to be asked here: Why the hell would Politico run this? Sure, I understand the traffic argument, but it's nice to think that even in this day and age media outlets have higher standards than traffic alone -- and the piece doesn't meet any of them. It contains not a single original argument, it does nothing to inform Politico's readers, it's often misleading or just plain wrong. It's totally predictable.

Take, for example, a small portion of the Op-Ed in which Bachmann and King argue that the Democrats' healthcare reform bill is unconstitutional because it contains an individual mandate. Their sole evidence for this claim is this quote from a 1994 Congressional Budget Office memorandum:

http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:wLM13tMVab0J:www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/48xx/doc4816/doc38.pdf+A+mandate+requiring+all+individuals+to+purchase+health+insurance+would+be+an+unprecedented+form+of+federal+action.+The+government+has+never+required+people+to+buy+any+good+or+service+as+a+condition+of+lawful+residence+in+the+United+States.+An+individual+mandate+would+have+two+features+that,+in+combination,+would+make+it+unique.+First,+it+would+impose+a+duty+on+individuals+as+members+of+society.+Second,+it+would+require+people+to+purchase+a+specific+service+that+would+be+heavily+regulated+by+the+federal+government.&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESiyWSIqtmYEq4lakwAhWMkW1kDrqRHGDNlQcDLqmuTwo_Auf31xQTnxvXizdtphjtT87T5017doVLLbJIChIufpUkIKW2ybLzLamC3p1UnJYRPoPO1RfEDcID3msEvdfnUzydXn&sig=AHIEtbSgf_yKdj-MjzBvFlQhi6ldCma6FA

http://www.salon.com/news/healthcare_reform/index.html?story=/politics/war_room/2010/03/19/bachmann_king

[madrchsod]

1. why? it`s politico!

nothing more really needs to be said.

[struggle4progress]

5. Duh!

(added for emphasis only)

[malaise]

6. Amen n/t

[Pharaoh]

2. Because it's a right wing rag

similar to the bullshit spewing Limbaugh and Hannity.

They are not a legitimate news source, they are total right wing propaganda, that's why.

[babylonsister]

3. I'm so glad Koppleman called them out; more people need to. Rec'd. nt

[stellanoir]

4. Politico is a plant that gets far too much coverage. IMHO

It has been ever since tears ago when it was introduced in a totally contived way in a press coference with GW.

It's complete propaganda.

It's sickening and is as bad as faux news.

Ughhhh.

[Vinnie From Indy]

10. I remember that day when Smirky gave them a Presidential commercial

at one of his press conferences. I knew then that the web site was probably going to be nothing but extremist right wing nonsense. And, I was right!

[pdxmom]

7. When is the rest of the media going to stop pretending that Politico

is a legitimate purveyor of news? They are Fox in print. But the MSM pretends that these are actually legitimate journalists just reporting the news.

On any day of the week you can go look at their website and just look at the story selections and headlines, nevermind what the stories actually say. It isn't just right-leaning, it's far right leaning. So an op-ed by Bachmann and King isn't surprising.

Politico is just World Net Daily in a suit.

[KharmaTrain]

8. It's Also That The Rushpublicans Are Now Batshit Crazy...

It's hard to name a moderate GOOPer...just degrees of crazy. It's as if that corrupt party has become a "can you top this" game of obnoxious and divisive rhetoric to rile up the base cause the have nothing else to offer. Hate and anger are easier to generate and direct away from real substance (which the GOOP is totally void of).

The byproduct of Democratic successes in the past two election cycles have been that most of the GOOPers left are from the deepest red areas with few from the "purple" ones and those that are there keep low profiles. The other side is that the Democratic caucus is more diverse...including more Blue Dogs...the "conservatives" who aren't as off the deep end but most definitely not liberal or progressive.

The corporate media, especially a tool like Politico is blind to this nuance...and blissfully so as the crazies throw out the red meat, create the buzz that generates hits to their website and puts their talking heads on the teevee.

[Cosmocat]

9. absolutely ...

They have become absolutely unhinged ...

Almost every single one of them have devolved to the point where they just flat out make crape up, don't even try to even make an honest effort to deal in facts and reality ...

If a D spewed the baseless nonsense, flat out lying like these clowns do every stinking day, they would be absolutely evicerated ...