... when the New York Times editorial board takes it to the woodshed. This morning, the Times follows the lead of E.J. Dionne and the Washington Post in condemning NARAL and their attempt to smear Supreme Court nominee John Roberts. They reject NARAL's cancellation of the advertisement as insufficient:

Under pressure, Naral Pro-Choice America has withdrawn a cheesy 30-second TV spot unfairly linking Judge John Roberts Jr. with abortion clinic violence. But the episode's sour taste lingers, and it can only make it harder to get senators to pay proper attention during the Supreme Court confirmation process to legitimate concerns about Judge Roberts's approach to issues of personal privacy and reproductive freedom. ...

In withdrawing the ad, Naral's president, Nancy Keenan, said that the controversy sparked by the ad had "become a distraction" from the group's effort to educate the public. Lamentably, her statement stopped short of apologizing to Judge Roberts, and to Americans of all ideological stripes who are hoping for a confirmation process at once vigorous and informed. If Naral wants to regain credibility, it should start there.

As a scolding goes, this one talks too much about how NARAL hurt its allies rather than the injustice of the smear itself. Still, for the Times, it represents a rather significant wake-up call to the lunatic fringe which NARAL increasingly serves -- that even the most normally strident voices of the Left have their limits, and not to expect cheerful unanimity when straying so far away from the truth.

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» Will Wonders Never Cease? from Decision '08
Yesterday, I praised the Washington Post for taking a strong stand against the despicable anti-John Roberts posturing of NARAL, and mentioned that such an unequivocable stance was practically unthinkable coming from the ‘paper of record’. ... [Read More]

Tracked on August 13, 2005 9:49 AM

» Why NYT Dumped On Naral from Don Surber
Cap'n Ed falls into the NYT trap set by its anti-Naral editorial. Naral made a mistake, took the ad off and in swoops the NYT to tell Naral it made a mistake so take the ad off. Now the NYT can pat itself on the back and say see, we dump on lefties too... [Read More]

Tracked on August 13, 2005 10:08 AM