It has been educational these last few weeks keeping close track on the genesis and permeation of idiotic talking points throughout the media. One quickly discovers just how much is generated – not by the politicians – but by the media themselves. (As I’ve said elsewhere on this blog, we may need an “Americans for Honorable Journalism” as much as we need Americans for Honorable Government.)

In the midst of the last few days’ ludicrous “The Clintons are Racists” fantasy, “liberal” pundit Richard Cohen’s contribution yesterday in the Washington Post really stands out – not only for it’s disingenuous need to link Sen Obama to Louis Farrakhan but for the obviousness of it’s source – the very same article from Newsmax that was discussed here merely yesterday..

Compare the two – it’s shameless.

Jason Linkins at Huffington Post ears Cohen a new one: here’s an excerpt:

“Cohen notes that “nothing in Obama’s record suggests he harbors anti-Semitic views or agrees with Wright when it comes to Farrakhan.” He also notes that David Axelrod has averred that Obama and Wright “sometimes disagree.” He goes on to confirm that the Farrakhan award is “one of those instances.” He finally concludes: “I don’t for a moment think that Obama shares Wright’s views on Farrakhan.” Uhm…okay! Case closed? Naturally, there’s a “but.”

“But the rap on Obama is that he is a fog of a man. We know little about him, and, for all my admiration of him, I wonder about his mettle.” This would be a fair point in macro, but on the matter of Obama’s opinion of Farrakhan, Cohen himself has duly recorded the candidate’s unfogging!

Larded with a thoroughly pedantic recital of Martin Luther King and multiple violations of Godwin’s Law, the whole piece is an identity politics cheap shot masquerading as high-minded outrage. It’s a masterwork of tortured logic, to boot, seeing as the available facts suggest that it’s Wright who has explaining to do, not the candidate. Having received confirmation that he doesn’t agree with Wright’s stance on Farrakhan, what more does Cohen expect Obama to do to make his position clear?”

To see where a candidate stands on the issues, visit Issue 2008