Ideological Purge Urged at Washington Post

I admit I laughed when I read the open letter that Patrick Pexton, the Washington Post’s ex-ombudsman, sent to incoming owner Jeff Bezos demanding that he fire Jennifer Rubin, the paper’s only full-time conservative writer (and former PJ Media writer). Pexton claims he doesn’t want her fired because she is conservative, but because “she’s just plain bad.” Of course, he then complains that she supposedly “parrots and peddles every silly right-wing theory to come down the pike,” which sure sounds like he is criticizing her because she is a conservative.

This is the same publication that employs snarky ideological clowns like Greg Sargent and Ezra Klein.  But the Left has never been a big fan of diversity of opinion, going back at least a century.

Pexton also complains that Rubin is “the No. 1 source of complaint mail,” which is no surprise given the leftist readers of the WP, which in essence acts as the Obama administration’s company newsletter. Apparently, getting criticized by the rabid intolerant Left is grounds for termination at the WP.

But if you take the text of his complaint letter and simply substitute the Washington Post and all of its liberal columnists and reporters for Rubin, and “left” for “right,” it sounds like a perfect description of the newspaper and its biased coverage and editorial page:

“ [The WP] parrots and peddles every silly [left]-wing theory to come down the pike…. [The WP’s] analysis of the conservative movement, which is a worthwhile and important beat that the Post should treat more seriously on its national pages, is shallow and predictable. [The editorial page’s] columns, at best, are political pornography; they get a quick but sure rise out of the [left], but you feel bad afterward.

And [the WP] is often wrong, and rarely acknowledges it. [The WP] was oh-so-wrong about [Barack Obama], week after week writing embarrassing flattery about his 2012 campaign, calling almost every move he made brilliant…[The WP] was wrong about [add your own list of the many times the WP has been wrong]…. And does [the WP] apologize? Nope.

Pexton must have been looking in the mirror when he wrote his letter.

I recently told Washington Post columnist Dan Balz in the Fox News greenroom that I use the paper for compost.  He eagerly agreed with that use for the newspaper, though not for the same reasons I did, I would suspect.