The Left Hates Howard Kurtz, Which Doesn’t Mean We Should Love Him, But …

Posted on | May 3, 2013 | 27 Comments

@tobyharnden @howardkurtz I agree.This defenestration feels like it’s about something else.#mobbing

— Instapundit.com (@instapundit) May 3, 2013

“Liberating tolerance, then, would mean intolerance against movements from the Right and toleration of movements from the Left.”
— Herbert Marcuse, “Repressive Tolerance,” 1965

The Internet never forgets, and I’m sure someone (probably Ed Driscoll) will unearth the details to remind us why the Journolist mob hates Howard Kurtz, so that the cycle time between his screw-up and his defenestration from the Daily Beast was about 20 hours.

Grant that there are conservatives who hate Howard Kurtz because he’s a liberal, but there have been occasions in Kurtz’s career as a media critic when he’s called out errors resulting from liberal bias, or when he has been critical of the Left’s sacred cows.

My guess — and I’m just guessing here — is that Ezra Klein or some of the other Juice Box Mafia types put Kurtz on their Enemies List during George W. Bush’s first term, as being someone who didn’t go along with the Bush-hating anti-war mentality. The old-fashioned sentiments of patriotism in time of war and respect toward the Presidency (whoever may hold the office) was anathema to the Marcusean worldview of the young leftist intellectuals who learned their politics in the dozen years between the Monica Lewinsky scandal and the inauguration of President Obama. And so the memory of Kurtz critically examining some episodes of Bush Derangement Syndrome probably accounts for the Left’s sudden urge to pounce on what was a clumsy error as an excuse to destroy him.

So conservative critics of Kurtz ought not be too hasty to celebrate the downfall of an Old Liberal, knowing that the Young Left is also celebrating. We should always credit our antagonists with having sense enough to know what’s good for them.

“The inherent corruption of what he did was a simple background fact, like the background fact of his dullness and mediocrity.”
— Tom Scocca, Gawker

If Kurtz is corrupt, dull and mediocre, whom does Tom Scocca view as honest, exciting and excellent? Probably not anyone a conservative would admire, and this should give us pause.

While “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” is rather simplistic, the venom directed at Kurtz from the Angry Young Left is significant. Kurtz likely represents to them the liberal who tries to be fair to Republicans, whereas the Marcusean ethos of “liberating tolerance” permits only unrelenting hostility toward “movements from the Right.”

As recently as February, Media Matters was excoriating “Howard Kurtz’s Hollow Defense Of Fox News.” and you can examine the rest of the Media Matters dossier on him as a guide to understanding that the Left viewed Kurtz as an unreliable ally — a Menshevik, as it were — useful to them when he attacked their chosen enemies, but susceptible to occasional errors of fairness toward those enemies.

Kurtz’s blunder on the Jason Collins story — wrongly accusing Collins of having omitted reference to his previous heterosexual relationships — was laughably clumsy and, because it involved an issue that is central to the Left’s agenda, was unforgivable. But conservatives tempted to join the schadenfreude festival over Kurtz’s Daily Beast downfall ought to ask themselves whether Tina Brown is likely to hire a replacement for Kurtz who will be more fair to the Right.

Magic 8-Ball says, “Outlook not so good.”

Category: Intellectuals, Media Bias

Comments

27 Responses to “The Left Hates Howard Kurtz, Which Doesn’t Mean We Should Love Him, But …”

scarymatt
May 3rd, 2013 @ 8:17 am

“The inherent corruption of what he did was a simple background fact, like the background fact of his dullness and mediocrity.”

What an awful sentence. Since the original background fact is about Collins, it seems like the other background fact should be, too. Especially since it seems to fit Collins’ career better than Kurtz’.

But it seems less likely that someone on Gawker would criticize the mediocre basketball player instead of the current liberal punching bag.
Bob Belvedere
May 3rd, 2013 @ 8:19 am

Stacy wrote: …the Left viewed Kurtz as an unreliable ally — a Menshevik, as it were….

Actually, Kurtz is more like one of the Trudoniks [trans: Laborists] – a moderate Socialist party. In other words, he’s more of a Dupe than a Fellow Traveller.
richard mcenroe
May 3rd, 2013 @ 8:26 am

Barry Diller has publicly admitted buying Newsweek and The Daily Beast was a huge, expensive error. TDB’s motive is probably nothing more than dumping an expensive contract, particularly if Kurtz has been doing a show of his own that essentially competes with TDB.

TDB is likely to suffer worse from this than Kurtz, since as you suggest they are more likely to lurch further to the left, alienating yet more of their dwindling base. There is zero chance they will recognize this danger: none of the coverage of the decline of the “mainstream” news mags has examined this, They talk about brands and demographics, but not one “expert” I’ve seen quoted has even mentioned the possibility this might be about “content”.

Frankly Kurtz himself has never lurched high enough above my horizon for me to have an informed opinion of his overall work, but I will not rush uncritically to embrace him. “The enemy of my enemy is my enemy’s enemy, nothing more, and I shall simply exploit the damage they do each other.”
Garym
May 3rd, 2013 @ 9:08 am

“Kurtz’s blunder on the Jason Green story — wrongly accusing Green of having omitted reference to his previous heterosexual relationships — was laughably clumsy and, because it involved an issue that is central to the Left’s agenda, was unforgivable.”
Did you get that name wrong twice on purpose, or has the week been too long?
robertstacymccain
May 3rd, 2013 @ 9:24 am

Fixed.

Have no idea why “Jason Green” was in my mind.

Early-onset Alzheimer’s?
Garym
May 3rd, 2013 @ 9:43 am

I thought you were trying to prove the point of how easy it is to make a mistake.
It will be interesting to see if Kurtz keeps his current ethic, or is he going to change due to the brow beating he is taking from the left.
Bob Belvedere
May 3rd, 2013 @ 9:53 am

He wants to be part of the Cool Kids Clique, so I expect Howie to ‘adapt’.

The Trudoniks tried and Lenin has them shot.
Garym
May 3rd, 2013 @ 10:02 am

Isn’t it funny how these “boatrockers” can no longer rock the boat. Adapt or figuratively die.
Finrod Felagund
May 3rd, 2013 @ 10:10 am

Magic 8-Ball says, “Outlook not so good.”

That Magic 8-Ball knows everything! I’ll ask it about Exchange Server next.
Richard Reed
May 3rd, 2013 @ 10:27 am

Richard Reed liked this on Facebook.
richard mcenroe
May 3rd, 2013 @ 10:31 am

My boss is so cheap, our Magic 8-Ball still runs on Windows 95.
richard mcenroe
May 3rd, 2013 @ 10:37 am

Says Dole has a shot at WH.
Garym
May 3rd, 2013 @ 10:48 am

“Start”
Howie Putz And The New Math | The Camp Of The Saints
May 3rd, 2013 @ 10:50 am

[…] -Stacy McCain: […]
Scribe of Slog (McGehee)
May 3rd, 2013 @ 11:11 am

We should always credit our antagonists with having sense enough to know what’s good for them.

Really? I’m of the opinion that nobody who knows what’s good for him, sets out to antagonize me.
Howie Kurtz: Live By the Sword, Die By the Sword | Daily Pundit
May 3rd, 2013 @ 11:59 am

[…] The Left Hates Howard Kurtz, Which Doesn’t Mean We Should Love Him, But … : The Other M… […]
Jaynie59
May 3rd, 2013 @ 1:00 pm

He’ll get a job as the resident “conservative” somewhere and make more money.
I can’t wait until Kirsten Powers screws up. Watching conservatives slobber over that left-wing nutjob whenever she occasionally states the obvious is vomit inducing. But she works for Fox News, too, so I’m sure she’ll always be an “Allstar”. Excuse me while I go puke.
Adjoran
May 3rd, 2013 @ 3:21 pm

But Stalin’s dead now, and Khrushchev began the process of rehabilitation of many who had become “non-persons.”

Howie can “grow in office.” He only has to increase his lying percentage a bit to get closer to the Obamedia norm of 95%, and before you know it, he’ll be back like Anthony’s Weiner.
Adjoran
May 3rd, 2013 @ 3:26 pm

Kurtz’s great sin was not in overlooking the fact or failing to actually read the article he was criticizing – those are considered “Mad Skillz” on the left. It was in distracting the celebration and adulation of – as Mark Steyn described it – the first American male EVER to come out as gay.

Kurtz will grovel and inch his way back, he’s still far closer to the left’s preferred propaganda level of 100% than to any concept of objectivity. And he didn’t commit the worst possible of sins: pointing out that the aging Collins and his fading skills may not be picked up by any NBA team anyway, so he quite possibly will never need to face teammates in a locker room again.
Adjoran
May 3rd, 2013 @ 3:28 pm

As English writing, it is truly hideous. But the Gawker standard is condescending snark, so Scocca earns a “Proletarian’s C” for effort.
RichFader
May 3rd, 2013 @ 4:04 pm

They may have sense enough to know what’s good for them, but why should we assume so?
Bob Belvedere
May 3rd, 2013 @ 6:17 pm

Without the pictures, I hope.
The PC Pyre Grows Higher as Howie Kurtz Gets Fired - LeatherPenguin
May 3rd, 2013 @ 7:37 pm

[…] to need a sanctifying sacrifice, so Howie met the knife. The ineffably brutal Stacy McCain thinks the long knives were already unsheathed, awaiting an opportune time to […]
DaveO
May 3rd, 2013 @ 7:46 pm

To maintain the masses at fever pitch, the leaders must keep the masses constantly in a state of agitation. Once the enemies have been defeated, new enemies must be found.

Just as the Jacobinists were destroyed by the Reign of Terror they founded, and the Mencheviks and Trotskeyites were slaughtered by Bolsheviks, those Progressives who aren’t ready cut TEA Party throats without provocation will find themselves slaughtered by their fellow travelers.

It may not be Obama fatigue we see in the next few years as the mass orgy of Prognazi-on-prognazi violence to see who best buys off the majority of Americans who demand more $$ to improve their lazy welfare-lovin’ lifestyle.
Esau's Message
May 3rd, 2013 @ 8:05 pm

Sorry, with or without Kurtz, the Daily Beast is largely hopeless. And Kurtz has been the most flexible tool of Big Media for the longest time. Posing as a media critic, but forever protecting the interests of his employers (WaPo, CNN, Reliable Sources). Watching him go down is beautiful. To beat the Media, we might have to take them out one “reporter” at a time.
SDN
May 4th, 2013 @ 5:33 pm

“But conservatives tempted to join the schadenfreude festival over Kurtz’s Daily Beast downfall ought to ask themselves whether Tina Brown is likely to hire a replacement for Kurtz who will be more fair to the Right.”

And we should care why?

Stacy, getting rid of Kurtz just deprives the Left of someone we might be sympathetic enough towards not to shoot. Given that civil war is inevitable, I want them as easy to shoot as possible.
Dandapani
May 5th, 2013 @ 7:43 am

My employer has given up running its own Exchange Server and our outsourced support for it was further outsourced to Microsoft Outlook.com