The Times: Worse Than Bush

Here are some staggeringly frightening numbers about you, America, via Portfolio.com’s Jeff Bercovici: The nation’s preeminent newspaper, the New York Times, has a lower approval rating than the president. Even with the awful war, stagflation, spying and the rest of it.

Just 24% of respondents to a recent Rasmussen study expressed a favorable opinion of the paper, compared with 44% unfavorable, and 31% “not sure.”

Not sure? Why not? That’s logical. The paper might be a collective of people with notebooks chasing down quotes and calling sources and writing down what they hear. Or Bill Keller might run around his office all day in Muslim garb. Not sure.

And you know, Vladimir Putin doesn’t look like such a horrible tyrant. If it’s Putin’s word against the Times’s, how can we ever know for sure???

When Slots Met Racism

There’s a hilarious, and hilariously depressing editorial in this week’s Banner. Melvin Miller, the paper’s editor and publisher, excoriates the legislature – particularly the Speaker – for trying to run out the clock on the Governor’s casino gambling proposal. Which is fair enough – everybody from broke-ass mayors to labor unions to labor-friendly reps have gotten into that game lately.

But it’s not enough for Miller to just whack Sal upside the head – that act is weeks old. This late in the game, Melvin’s got to have a reason for killing Sal. Conveniently enough, Sal happens to be a filthy racist. Or so we read…