KINSLEY ASKS

“Do they really think it is devastating evidence of bias that a TV producer would decide to label a full-time ideologue like Phyllis Schlafly as ‘conservative’ but not feel obliged to label avocational activist Rosie O’Donnell as ‘liberal?'” Er, Mike, that would be yes. I do really think that. O’Donnell is easily as far to the left as Shlafly is to the right, and she has a much bigger platform from which to voice her views. And a critical element of the power of her megaphone is that it is never labeled properly as left-wing advocacy. I also think it’s prima facie evidence of liberal media bias that there’s barely a single Bush voter on Slate’s editorial staff. Yet, Slate is never described as a liberal magazine. To take an obvious analogy, there’s barely a Gore voter on National Review Online, yet they are routinely described as a conservative magazine. Do I think that double-standard is devastating evidence of bias? No, it’s not devastating, but it’s pretty good food for thought. “Devastating” evidence is the shrillness of some people’s response to Goldberg’s book, including, alas, Mike’s.