I have in recent years relied much on the Washington Post. I often put its photo page and editorials on display when I begin my American Government class. This is because, unlike the New York Times, see Powerline, it is an honest paper. And it has been thoroughly liberal, and therefore likely to check my own biases.
But lately I am getting a bit worried. Last Summer I blogged about John Roberts, and suggested reasonable standards by which both parties ought to judge court nominees. In short order the Washington Post endorsed Roberts, and defended its decision on the grounds that I included in my blog. Could it be that the WaPo is taking its cue from SDP? Well, probably not. But then I posted a couple of entries just before the Canadian elections, Anti-Americanism (or Anti-Bushism) Fades in Canada I and II. In the former I pointed out how anti-Americanism was failing parties in Europe and was about to disappoint the liberal party in Canada. And now the WaPo again follows in step:
ACCORDING TO his opponent, Canadian Conservative Party Leader Stephen Harper exposed "an agenda really drawn from the extreme right in the United States." He favored the Iraq war, opposed the Kyoto treaty on global warming, and is a social conservative to boot. He might just become -- heaven forbid -- "the most pro-American leader in the Western world." His victory would -- O, Canada! -- "put a smile on George W. Bush's face." Despite all those scary warnings, Mr. Harper and his party won Canada's election on Monday. That put an end to 12 years of increasingly incoherent and corrupt rule by the Liberal Party -- as well as the cynical and irresponsible attempt of its leader, outgoing Prime Minister Paul Martin, to use anti-Americanism.
Mr. Martin becomes the second G-8 leader in four months to exit from office after discovering that anti-U.S. demagoguery is no longer enough to win an election. Gerhard Schroeder, the former German chancellor, also tried to rescue his political career last fall by parading his differences with Mr. Bush; the result was the victory of Angela Merkel, who has moved swiftly to repair relations with Washington. Interestingly, both Mr. Schroeder and Mr. Martin won previous campaigns by playing anti-American cards, in 2002 and 2004 respectively. While it's not clear that the level of ill feeling toward the United States or its president has changed much in Germany or Canada, it's obviously not the foremost concern of voters fed up with domestic mismanagement -- or, perhaps, political venality.
Is the WaPo lining up behind SDP? Hardly. But it does suggest that, for all the acrimony between conservatives and liberals, convergence of honest minds is sometimes possible. It certainly seems to me that the Post is no knee-jerk publication.
Mr. Harper [the new Prime Minister] can be expected to stop the self-defeating flow of bile, to offer more cooperation on defense, and to seek to be heard on trade and border issues. If he is wise, Mr. Bush will make an effort to listen, and find compromises, as he did this month with Ms. Merkel. Foreign political leaders who stick to a platform of friendship and cooperation with the United States in the teeth of anti-American mudslinging ought to be visibly rewarded. As for Mr. Martin, perhaps he will be tempted again by the example of Mr. Schroeder, who has taken a job as an agent for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Does Hugo Chavez need another lobbyist?
Recent Comments