Reply #79: I just finished reading Franken's new book

[Ivory_Tower]

I just read "Lies..." this week, and this editorial is a textbook example of what Franken is describing. Take one post, or one comment, ignore everything else around it, and focus on that one post to create a broad generalization.

I personally thought the post was pretty condescending (and ironic, too, given the "80% of the people are in the majority" tautology), but it certainly provoked a lot of disagreement. That, of course, would not fit the theme the editorial was trying to present ("Liberals are elitists, and stupid too"), so they ignore the critical posts. It's the "Fair and Balanced" way of presenting things, after all.

Another thing -- the WSJ is attacking an internet message board? How lame is that? DU is hardly a editorial board, nor a corporate mass media entity. There are lots of posts, mostly unfiltered. You can draw any conclusion you want with the proper post selection. Maybe next time they'll write something about how liberals have an obsession with bare-assed smiley-faces or gay ducks.

Selective editing IS dishonest. It's also the norm for some media elites.