Georgetown's Village Idiot

Bob Somerby eloquently lays out the case against Margaret Carlson in yesterday's Howler. Her Slate Diary reflects everything one needs to know about the Washington press corps (many of whom are name-dropped into the column). It's not her partisanship that offends; it's her self-satisfied ignorance about basic facts. Carlson damns herself with her own words. She's more concerned with the permit process for the remodelling of her Georgetown house than she is in getting facts straight. She engages in mutual admiration and promotion of her celebrity "journalist" pals, rather than pointing out their lies and mistatements (thereby ensuring they don't point our hers.)

Well, you might say, the column is supposed to be a diary of Carlson's mindless personal life, not a policy analysis. But that doesn't excuse her from getting things wrong when she does talk about politics. And who really gives a shit about what desserts she eats?

Most offensive are her gratitious, and false, attacks on Hillary Clinton.

"[H]as anyone ever gotten more out of sexual favors she didn't dispense than Sen. Clinton?" Senator Clinton got elected in New York by kicking Rick Lazio's sorry ass. She won despite the negative publicity from the Lewinsky matter, not because of it. And since she got the book deal without agreeing to write about the Lewinsky matter, she certainly didn't earn her advance based on "sexual favors." It's Margret Carlson and her fellow Capitol Gang hacks who made their careers blathering about sexual favors, not Senator Clinton.

Carlson also snidely asks, "How many aliases did Hillary have before that Rodham crept back in?" How many other women has Carlson slammed for choosing to use their married name? And this from someone who has to use George Bush's name in her autobiography just to sell a few copies of her clip-job book.

I just hope Jimmy isn't too embarassed by his sister's idiocy.