...in full gear once again.
Digby (
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/born-yesterday-by-digby-robert-novak.html) reviews the 1968 Nixon-engineered Muskie implosion, via Dave Broder (who saw his mistakes in retrospect, but still acts the same way as he did then). She sums up:
Well, (Broder) can take some comfort that he wasn't alone, but it's not like it was the last time it happened. They may have been slightly chastened for a time, but the modern conservative movement's political arm comes directly out of the Nixon school. Bill Clinton and Al Gore were nearly destroyed by the same tactics, a bit more refined. But by that point the press shamelessly worked hand in glove with Republicans, often in the open, fully aware that they were helping them --- Broder included.
After years of this sort of politics, from Atwater to Rove, from Willie Horton to Swift Boats, it would be nice to think the mainstream media have learned from the past and will ensure that things like this are adequately examined within the context of history and not just the heat of the moment. But that's clearly too much to hope for.
Robert Novak was once a real journalist but after the events of the past few years, it's safe to say that he no longer can be considered anything but a Republican operative, specifically a Rove acolyte who basically works for him. He has more than proven his loyalty. This rumor, especially coming from him, should never have seen the light of day. MSNBC is running with the story like it's 9/11. It remains to be seen if it has any legs among the rest of the mainstream press. But I think it's fair to say that they will, at the very least, "store such incidents in minds and then use them to interpret major incidents when they occur."
We don't know exactly what happened here,of course, but Democratic campaigns should know better that to ever use Robert Novak to try to score points either way. His item, (just like Rove's from earlier in the week) was a twofer, virtually designed to make both candidates look bad --- and, frankly, both of their responses only reaffirmed that impression. Whole article:
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/born-yesterday-by-digby-robert-novak.html