In a scarcely believable display of "both sides do it" phony equivalency, a NY Times Editorial today managed to lump together a Rand organizer's curb stomping of a woman with Conway's Aqua Buddha ad. The Times first noted the curb stomping without even mentioning the Paul campaign's failure to condemn it outright:
Tim Profitt, Mr. Paul’s Bourbon County coordinator, helped wrestle her to the ground and pushed his foot into her head and shoulders. The police issued a criminal summons to Mr. Profitt, and the campaign dismissed him.
Then, the Editorial moved right into the "disgraceful" Aqua Buddha ad that has so many of the Heathers so upset:
Mr. Conway decided to run an ad saying that Mr. Paul had been part of a college secret society that mocked Christianity and worshiped invented idols.
That's right, NYT, stomping on someone's head is no different than a tough campaign ad -- both part of the "childish and nasty" KY race. This is High Broderism taken to an extreme. Despite a blizzard of Republican secret money ads filled with lie after lie (You'll go to jail if you don't get health insurance!), and repeated physical attacks on Democrats and reporters (and not only in KY), the Times chooses to cluck, cluck about both sides behavior.
Democrats are portrayed as wimps if they don't fight back, but when they do use all means at their disposal, including what was really a kidnapping incident, the supposedly liberal Times equates it with Republicans' fascist tactics. The Times noted that Conway was behind, but not that Conway's standing in the polls went up after the Aqua Buddha ad.
Indeed, the Times doesn't even note that the attacker, Profitt, rather than apologizing, demanded that his victim apologize. If the NY Times became even more "liberal" it would be the National Review.