An End to Gentility on 43rd Street
In his column today, Niall Stanage says the genteel response of the New York Times to charges of treason has been wholly inadequate, and that what the paper actually needs is a Clinton-style war room.
Here's part of his prescription:
Spokespeople for The Times and other comparable media outlets need to realize that no slur, no matter how crazed, can go unanswered in today's climate. If that means offering interviewees to the shrillest talk shows, aggressively slapping down demagogic attacks and employing people solely to stomp on blog-inspired trash, so be it.
The sad thing is that he's right. How the Times, an institution of incomparable repute and tradition, lets itself be slapped around by some mentally unstable shriekers like Malkin just eludes me.
I disagree 100% Why dignify the shriekers with responses? Not only does that empower them to continue their behavior (like showing the idiots that run on to the field during sporting events), but it will become a full time operation whereby instead of reporting the news, the Times will be wasting money and spending as much if not more time on a permanent PR campaign.
Besides, after one news cycle, stories like Malkin protesting (hasn't she said that protesting is something solely practiced by the hippie liberal traitors amongst us) is already old.
Hasn't anyone heard? Paris Hilton has a new single!