NewsBusters regularly engages in what we call Heathering — sniping at media conservatives for even the slightest deviation from the right-wing party line, which demand absolute fealty to the case and tolerates no criticism whatsoever.
Jeffrey Meyer provides a fine example of Heathering in a Sept. 20 NewsBusters post, snarking at MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough for calling himself a conservative, adding, “well at least the sort of ‘conservative’ that MSNBC can stomach to sign to a multi-million dollar contract.”
What was the source of Meyer’s hostility? Scarborough had the temerity to point out that “Republicans spent us into debt when they were in charge of Washington over the past ten years,” which Meyer sniffed was a “typical MSNBC talking point.” Meyer doesn’t disprove Scarborough’s assertion, presumably because there is a sizable amount of truth to it.
Meyer also dismissed Scarborough’s criticism of Mitt Romney’s performance as a candidate as nothing but an “anti-Republican rant,” then demonstrated the proper way to spin facts to demonstrate total loyalty (while also engaging in more Heathering):
Conservatives would readily agree that Romney is no Reagan or Thatcher, but that he is the alternative in this election to a president whose spending binge would make FDR and LBJ blush with shame. Scarborough’s too-cool-for-school bad-mouthing of the GOP only proves he prefers self-righteous smugness over being a strong conservative voice on an otherwise liberal network yelling STOP! at the Obama agenda.
So, to sum up: Meyer thinks Scarborough shouldn’t tell the truth and should suck it up and defend Romney no matter what while portraying Obama as nothing but evil.
You know, the kind of blind loyalty to ideology Brent Bozell is paying Meyer to spout.