Bloodless Coup

Barone (Author of "The Bible") on Palin and the Aleutians

I think that one thing that's often underestimated in terms of why national discourse, especially in the press, about national politics took such a right-leaning slant over the last few decades is the effect of The Almanac of American Politics. Pretty much every news bureau in Washington and New York has one, as of course do lots of political offices, and probably more than a few C-SPAN junkies around the nation. It's been described as "The Bible of American Politics". In the information age they are probably most useful as doorstops, but for years and years if you wanted information about a member of Congress at your finger tips, that was the book you picked up. And the book has a slant. Read the modifiers used to describe lefty members and right-wing members and you'll notice some differences (of the "extremist" vs. "principled" variety). This is not too shocking as for years and years it's been written and edited by uber-hack Michael Barone. Just how hackish is Barone? Well, get a load of this that he mentions in defending Palin's experience (noted in today's Michael Kinsley column):Alaska is the only state with a border with Russia. And it is the only state with territory, in the Aleutian Islands, occupied by the enemy in World War II.

Of course! Decades before she was born, islands in Alaska were invaded. Why didn't it occur to me earlier that she naturally picked up foreign policy experience from that fact? Why? Because I have a functioning brain. That this guy's been in charge of shaping opinions about members of Congress for decades (thank you National Journal!) makes it a little easier to understand the cluelessness and stilted perspective of some of the press corps.