Part of the WaPo Plays Fair

Stop the presses! WaPo media critic Howie Kurtz plays fair and confesses to left-wing bias: "When Left Is Right and Right Is Wrong." As argued in this space (tpfp post 2/22 2:12pm), Kurtz contrasts coverage of marrying gays, contrary to state law, in San Francisco with installing the Ten Commandments, contrary to the Constitution, in Alabama:

Hundreds of news accounts have provided an upbeat portrayal of Newsom as a pioneer and the San Francisco weddings as a happy occasion, even as partisan rhetoric hardened last week over President Bush's endorsement of a constitutional amendment to ban such marriages. While those opposed to gay marriage and Newsom's maneuver are certainly quoted, the media spotlight has shone most brightly on the mayor and those (including Rosie O'Donnell) tying the legally disputed knot.

Radio talk show host Laura Ingraham says Newsom "is being treated as a modern-day Rosa Parks. He's a nice guy and a very eloquent public speaker, but he's also not following the law. When Judge Roy Moore wasn't following the law, people were trashing him. He was just ridiculed in the press. . . . If you have a politically correct view and violate the law, you're a hero."

The mayor has not been universally portrayed as a hero. But it's hard to avoid noticing that Moore's defiance (for which he was ultimately removed from office) appealed mainly to Christian conservatives, while Newsom's flouting of California law has been welcomed mainly by liberals and gays.

Halleluljah! Too bad Kurtz's admission won't moderate slanted coverage in every article and broadcast. And it's unlikely to boost support for a Constitutional amendment permitting states individually to authorize (or not to authorize) gay or polygamous marriage (see tpfp post 2/4 3:56pm).

Still, a rhetorical victory is better than nothing.