The Double Standard

Steve Benen at Carpetbagger and Greg Sergeant at TPM caught a whiff of…dare I say it…hypocrisy eminating from a recent Broder chat.  I’ll let Steve explain the double standard:

Greg Sargent notes today that the Washington Post’s David Broder chatted with readers late last week, and there was a brief-but-interesting exchange.

New York: Will you and the media ever apply as much scrutiny to the Giuliani marriages as you have done to the single Clinton marriage?

David S. Broder: I plan to leave both subjects alone.

Is that so.

About a year ago, the NYT published a 2,000-word, front-page dissection of Bill and Hillary Clinton’s marriage. It contained no real news, few named sources, and plenty of gossip masquerading as political coverage. Observing that the Clintons typically spend 14 days of each month together — hardly unusual for a couple that includes a senator and a peripatetic former president — the Times opted for the half-empty conclusion that the two lead “largely separate lives.”

Just 48 hours later, it was none other than David Broder who devoted his column to the Clintons’ marriage. In fact, the day before his piece ran, Broder heard Hillary Clinton deliver a substance speech on energy policy. Broder said he was bored and wanted to hear more about the senator’s marriage. In fact, Broder concluded that the failure of reporters in the post-speech Q&A to grill Hillary about her personal relationship with her husband was the “elephant in the room.”

But now the Dean of the DC media establishment plans to leave both marriages alone. How big of him.

Now, as I recall, I had an on point question about this very issue when Mr. Broder was cheering on the panty raid of Hillary’s drawers. To wit:

Good heavens, don’t these people have anything better to do? Is Rudy Guiliani going to get the Mistress in the Mansion treatment? Do they plan on running the McCain divorce for the booze distribution heiress marriage up the flag pole to salute? I could go on, but I’m making myself queasy with the memories of 7th grade note passing. “Will u b my date 2 the dance? Write yes or no.”

For those keeping score, the answer to both questions and many, many more about any of the GOP candidates would be: No interest, no siree, no one could possibly have any questions, nope.  Democrats? They are still fair game, all bets are off, we’ll poke into their panty drawers any time we feel the need.

Good to know where things stand inside the Chastity Beltway, isn’t it?

(Photo via nemone.)

Related posts:

1. The Media’s Generous Double Standard For Republican Extremists
2. Come Saturday Morning: Hoist the Double Standard!
3. Bill Clinton: “I Was Wrong About Gay Marriage”
4. Washington Post Uses Vitter to Stoke False “Clintons Conflict” Narrative
5. MATLOCK!!!