TalkingPointsMemo flags a strange piece by Mark Halperin wherein Halperin tells Republicans not to use BurlingtonCoatGate as a wedge issue even though it would be a spectacularly successful wedge issue in his opinion. He specifically condemns — or at least tries to distance himself — from the Fox “News–talk radio–Drudge Report echo machine”.
Halperin has made a career out of pimping Drudge stories, telling us out of one side of his mouth “Matt Drudge rules our world” while lamenting the power of the “freak show” out of the other. Halperin is one of the founding members of what Jay Rosen accurately describes as the religion of savviness, the deeply entrenched belief among elite Washington reporters that:
[I]t’s better to be savvy than it is to be honest or correct on the facts. It’s better to be savvy than it is to be just, good, fair, decent, strictly lawful, civilized, sincere or humane.
I think Rosen oversimplifies somewhat. For example, the Drudge-Fox echo chamber serves a dual purpose for people like Halperin. They can feel savvy (and burnish their “centrist” credentials) when they promote it and then feel morally superior (and burnish their “serious” credentials) when they criticize its excesses. It’s a neat trick.