The REAL issue in the Webb/Allen Senate race: the Washington Post’s pro-Webb bias

There’s a lot of talk in the blogosphere today about dirty, nasty passages from books Jim Webb has written that were released by the Allen campaign last night.

My response: So what? I’m in Malkin’s camp on this one . There are plenty of issues on which to take Jim Webb to task without having to pull bizarre sexual passages from fictional books.

What’s really bothered me about the Webb/Allen race is how the Washington Post has been a cheerleader for Webb throughout it. Kevin at Wizbang discusses that at length here and has links to others who have caught the WaPo in the act.

The latest cheerleading story is this morning’s WaPo puff piece on Webb, which has the headline: Defiant Iraq War Foe Defined by Vietnam. It’s five pages long, and includes words like “warrior” and “Emmy-winning journalist” and it looks like it could have come straight from the Webb campaign itself. There is no way that article can be read without seeing the overt pro-Webb bias.

I’ve documented some of the pro-Webb bias here as well. For example, the WaPo devoted three pages to S.R. Sidarth, the Webb aide who was the “victim” in the overblown, phony “macaca” incident. It was a glowing write-up on Sidarth, making him out to be everyone’s example of the perfect all-American male who had been “thrust” into the spotlight.

It’s one thing for the WaPo editorial page to come out in favor of a candidate; we expect that. But when it devotes a significant amount of news space pumping up ‘their guy’s’ credentials, while deliberately portraying his opponent in a negative light that’s an example of opinion media masquerading as unbiased media, and the Washington Post should know better.

Email them and let them know what you think: ombudsman@washpost.com

Update I -3 PM: Here’s a flashback to what Keith Olbermman said on November 8th, 2005 about whether or not Scooter Libby’s “sex shocker” book was fair game for critics:

Artists and actors and satirists and newscasters are all quick to remind us, hey, just because I played this part and created this character, read the story, that doesnΓ’β‚¬Λœt mean I am them. But how much insight does a novel really give us into the psyche of the author?

[Ò€¦]

Now we have beaten the hell out of Libby for this, and deservedly so. If a Democratic White House official had written this book, his head would be on a pike somewhere.

Will Keith provide the same attention to the excerpts from Webb’s books? Stay tuned to Olbmermann Watch (that is, if you can’t bring yourself to actually watch KO) to find out.

Also, here’s Webb’s response to the controversy.

Others blogging about this: Patterico, Don Surber, John Hawkins, Flopping Aces, Allah, Rick Moran, MKH, Blog For All, James Joyner, Dan Riehl, Stop The ACLU, ST reader Karl at Leaning Straight Up, Cold Fury

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Based in North Carolina, Sister Toldjah is a 15+ year veteran of blogging with an emphasis on mainstream media bias and the culture wars.

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