Wrong as Usual

It's always unsettling to have first-hand knowledge of anything and then read about the same topic in the LA Times. The reason? There are consistent omissions, distortions or inaccuracies that make one wonder about the other stories in the paper.

Take this piece from Saturday. We're told that mostly conservative talk radio show hosts are upset about Imus' firing, and John & Ken and John Ziegler are referenced, with Dennis Miller being applauded as slightly more "solomonic" about the matter.

For starters, it's worth pointing out that Imus was a liberal, and the bulk of his guests were, too. But for some reason, that never appears in the piece. Would the Times have been so reticent had a conservative talk show host, say, Rush Limbaugh, or a show with predominantly conservative guests found him/itself in the same situation? I doubt it.

What's more, in a segment on last Thursday's Hugh Hewitt show (run immediately before Dennis Miller's on the day the Times people would have been listening), Hugh hosted a symposium of sorts on the issue with Dennis Prager and Michael Medved. Although their positions varied slightly in different ways, none of the three were breathing fire about Imus' fate, and all agreed that the relevant comment had been inappropriate and wrong.

Why not report that? Because the thoughtful nature of that exchange doesn't fit in with the template, so beloved of the Times, of angry conservative talk radio.