In our view — not thoroughly thought out, we admit — the paper of record must not only strive for impartiality in reporting and the giving of fair weight to the opposition in its editorial opinions. It must seek to assume a perspective that is worthy of being the only private sector job singled out in the Constitution. The Washington Post, which we have discussed previously as a candidate for newspaper of record, has impressed us on Judge Roberts and the broader issues implicated in his confirmation:

IN ANNOUNCING his opposition yesterday to the nomination of Judge John G. Roberts Jr. to be chief justice of the United States, Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) made a remarkable statement: “The president is not entitled to very much deference in staffing the third branch of government, the judiciary.” Leave aside the merits of the Roberts nomination, which we support; if Mr. Reid regards Judge Roberts as unworthy, he is duty-bound to vote against him. But these are dangerous words that Democrats will come to regret.

This country has only one president at a time. That president, right now President Bush, is tasked with naming judges. The Senate has the role of providing advice and consent on the president’s choices, which is a significant constitutional task. But if the presidential election means anything in this arena, it must mean that the president’s choice has a heavy presumption of confirmation. That is the way the system works. Why else would Justices Sandra Day O’Connor, Antonin Scalia, Stephen G. Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsburg have received only a handful of no-votes among them?

We don’t expect the Washington Post to become conservative, nor do we expect to rely on its editorial opinions. But the way the editorial staff deliberated the Iraq War and Judge Roberts is worthy of note by fair minded opponents of the ideological thrust of the publication. (Indeed, we are also reminded of the somewhat fair treatment given to the SwiftBoatVets in 2004, when the NYT could only produce a hit piece against them.) Among the liberal elite media today, is there a doubt that, if there continues to be something called The Newspaper of Record, that this title has passed to the Washington Post?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 21st, 2005 at 9:10 pm and is filed under Democrats, General, MSM, art, culture, radical chic. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.