The scrupulously nonpartisan Politico has been under sustained attack from Fox News for being too left-wing. Today, Politico hits back, hard, with "How Fox News Has Stayed On Top," a fanzine-style puffer by Mike Allen. That'll show 'em! I'm sure there's a strategy at work here. I just can't figure out what it is. As for the Allen story, it's an unalloyed embarrassment--one of the worst things I can ever recall reading by a first-rate journalist. "Even the channel’s most hardened critics would acknowledge that it has become a business, media and cultural juggernaut, lavishing airtime on conservatives like Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin and Karl Rove, while driving debate [read: creating hysteria] on subjects ranging from the [false] rape accusation against Duke lacrosse players to the [perfectly reasonable] proposal for a mosque near ground zero." And so on.
Oh, Mike. I think you need to take a few days off.
Update, 3:40 p.m.: Apparently Allen also wrote a puffer last month about Fox anchor Bret Baier ("Bret Baier: A Boy Scout With A Very Sharp Knife"). According to Fishbowl DC, Politico's love-bombing campaign has been going on for some time. What Politico may not realize is that grovelling before its tormentor actually confirms that Politico is a den of liberals. That's what liberals do!