Lots of good folks write for Huffington Post. And as a journalistic site it's done much good. But lately it seems primarily to carry water for the Republicans. Today, for example, Matt Drudge concocted a phony story about the U.S. bailing out an Afghan Bank. And who's been featuring it in a banner headline? The Huffington Post.
Mainstream Politico Blogger Ben Smith reports on the story, "Drudge and the weekend editors:"
White House spokesman Tommy Vietor emails:
Some of you may have seen – or will soon get a call from a flipped-out weekend editor – the Drudge Report headline that reads "American Taxpayers to Bailout Afghan Bank?". That’s unequivocally NOT true.
Here is a statement that Treasury has been giving out from Deputy Secretary Wolin: "This is an Afghan issue. They are taking immediate steps to ensure the stability of Kabul Bank and to protect the financial assets of the Afghan people. While we are providing technical assistance to the Afghan Government, no American taxpayer funds will be used to support Kabul Bank."
In response -- apparently -- Huffington Post added a smaller print sub-headline skeptically describing the White House response. But this is nothing new. The majority of Huffington Post's featured headlines are either Republican talking points or messages that will reduce Democratic enthusiasm or both. Compared to the mainstream Politico, Huffington Post does a far better job of carrying water for the Republicans. So what's up with that? I still believe that Huffington Post is well-intentioned but if that's true, then it's time for Huffington Post to recognize what it's doing and to understand that neither advocacy journalism nor progressive advocacy require collaboration with Drudge to destroy Obama's Presidency and the Democratic congress.