UPDATED: Because Politico is really just a GOP bulletin board
July 27, 2009 10:30 am ET by Eric Boehlert
Glenn Thrush wins more admirers at the RNC with this nasty piece on Nancy Pelosi, proving once again that Politico staffers seem to thrive on regurgitating GOP talking points beneath their bylines. I mean, who actually quotes Michelle Malkin in a news story? Glenn Thrush, that's who.
Check out Thrush's comically loaded lede [emphasis added]:
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is one of the most despised political figures in the country.
From the first sentence we can see where Thrush is going. Pelosi isn't unpopular, she's despised. By that measure, I suppose former president Bush was despised, but I didn't see those kinds of references in Politico news articles last year. But a Democrat? And a female Democrat? Trust Thrush; she's despised.
Politico's proof?
Last week’s Public Strategies Inc./POLITICO poll brought grim news for Pelosi, revealing that only a quarter of Americans trust the San Francisco Democrat — putting her in the basement with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio).
Do I even have to explain that the polling data Politico pointed to had nothing to do with public figures being "despised." It asked voters which leaders were trusted. Pelosi scored low, and Thrush translated that into her being despised.
BTW, according to Politico's own polling, 58 percent of Americans don't trust Pelosi. And wouldn't you know it, according to Politico's own polling, 57 percent of Americans don't trust Sarah Palin. Can't wait for Thrush's exposé about how Palin is among "the most despised" political figures in America. Wake me when it arrives.
UPDATED: Well, well, well. According to Politico's polling, the Republican Party is not trusted by 57 percent of voters, which, of course, makes it one of the most "despised" political institutions in America, right?
UPDATED: Thrush utterly failed in his attempt to rewrite GOP history with this passage:
By contrast, Newt Gingrich's popularity tanked only after his conservative revolution sputtered and he had helped shut down the federal government.
False. During his first year as Speaker, Gingrich's approval rating stood at a soft 31 percent, and only got worse after he helped shut down the federal government.
Media Matters: The Palin chronicles
The Friday Rush: A series of conflicts
Contrary to media hype, Sarah Palin is very unpopular
You can be Right slanted and not be a jerk.
What is important is that you always tell the truth.
That is the Benchmark all Networks should live up to.
Speak truth to power.
Mr. News
So you then are defending Politico, I take it, for calling Pelosi despised just because she has the same polling #s as the RNC and Boehner, yet Politico doesn't have the gall to call them despised as well?
Are you that blind to not see that "Pelosi is despised" has been the RNC mantra for 2 years now? Ever since she took the House leadership role, they have been calling her every nasty name imaginable ...
I have a different word for Politico: DESPICABLE
and the Politico is a crappy, terrible website where one can go to learn all the stupid beltway DC insider conventional wisdom you heard the same idiots puking forth yesterday and the day before. and their comments section is practically a testament to hate speech.
She's a squishy-soft sponge like the rest of them. All we ask is that their glass be half-full every now and again, but it never is. They're always finding reasons to not do something.
From the very second that Politico launched--what? five years ago?--they were constantly quoted by and guests of Hugh "Halfwitt" Hewitt on his AM show. I've never expected anything resembling truth from them ever since, unless absolutely necessary, and have not been disappointed.
The same theorem can be applied to Sean Hannity and Rasmussen's polls and the UK Evening Standard newspaper. (Not that anybody's ever mistaken the Standard for anything but the trash it is, but still. It gets quoted as a reputable source on corporate media. As do Politico and Rasmussen, for that matter.)
Keep your enemies close, or at least tune in once in a while until the urge to vomit begins to overwhelm, and much becomes clear. (Hell, them boys were talkin' about "illegal aliens" back in 2003.)