Lots of us liberals felt sorry for Dan Rather for having used what turned out to be fabricated documents in reporting on George W. Bush’s derelictions of duty while using the Air National Guard to dodge service in Vietnam. Some of us even suspected that he’d been mousetrapped by Karl Rove: that the phony documents had been planted on Rather, or on his source, for the purpose of discrediting a true story.
But once the fabrication had been brought to light, no liberal blogger - let alone any liberal politician - called Rather a “hero” for running with his story.
Contrast Mike Huckabee, who - if he’s right that America’s sinfulness has drawn down on it the Wrath of God - might actually be President some day. He’s “shocked” that the “hero journalist” Lara Logan has been suspended from her job at CBS.
It’s simply not the case that the Red Team and the Blue Team are symmetric. Yes, they both act factionally, and both camps include some lunatics. But we don’t let ours run the asylum.