Argus

The Times also includes a short essay on the death of Jacques Derrida and the state of the deconstructionist movement this morning. While a movement of the left, it's application is universal. Think of the Argus Leader when reading this excerpt: "In the case of deconstruction, the idea that hidden power hierarchies and agendas could be exposed through careful close readings had tremendous political appeal." The Argus has been advancing a political agenda for a number of years by refusing to scrutinize Senator Daschle and, given the AL's near-monopoly status in the key swing political region in the state, alternative sources of information have until recent years been rare. Using the deconstructionist tools of the left, however, bloggers and individual citizens have exposed the agenda of the Argus. Exhibit A is the volume of stories that have been reported by other news outlets around the country that aren't flattering to Daschle that the Argus has refused to report. SDP put together a list of 66 such examples. While this list of concrete examples should be proof enough that the information gatekeepers at the Argus want to protect their candidate from any public scrutiny of his record, for those of you who want evidence of motive there's plenty to offer. The main political reporter of the Argus is an old college buddy of Daschle's from the 60s, when they were active in politics together. The reporter was Daschle's "publicity chairmain," ironically enough, for a mock Democratic convention. When Daschle and other staffers were looking for friendly reporters in the 1970s, they immediately went to this fellow--their memos call him a "very much a strong Demo" and document how he worked to help Dems and hurt Republicans. Roll Call and The New York Times noted his "hysterical bashing" of Republicans. The main political editor of the Argus thinks Republicans are "evil" and left a leftist alternative weekly newspaper to work "from the inside" of a bigger news outlet where he could make a bigger impact. The editor of the Argus compares any critics of the Argus to fascists. The Argus has its political slant, and that's fine. Just be honest about it. To feign objectivity is absurd. And it's a fraud. We've known this for quite some time. As I noted back in April, the Argus Leader's systematic campaign to deprive the public of information critical to a fully-informed judgment in the Senate race degrades the democratic process. Now, in one final insult to the public's intelligence, the Argus Leader is sending their reporter and Daschle's "publicity chairman" from the 1960s to moderate the big debate tonight between Daschle and Thune. It's a fine coda to this race, actually. It says it all. In one day, the Argus endorsed Daschle, wrote a puffy "bio" piece about him which left out all the contradictions central to his career, and sent their reporter/Daschle "publicity chairman" to lob softballs at Daschle in the debate tonight.