A hose runs from a fire hydrant through two windows of a Honda SUV in Pennsauken after crews responded to a house fire on May 27, 2015. (Photo courtesy of Ted Aurig)
The following is an excerpt from OpinionJournal’s “Best of the Web” at WSJ written by the editor, James Taranto.
News You Can Use
“This Is What Could Happen if You Park in Front of a Fire Hydrant in N.J.”–headline, NJ .com, May 27
What Would We Do Without Experts?
“Turf Rivalry Looms Over Waco, Texas, Biker Gang Shooting, Experts Say”–headline, The Wall Street Journal, May 19
It’s Always in the Last Place You Look
“Saudi Arabia Seeking New Executioners”–headline, Times of Israel, May 18
News of the Tautological
“Teen Drivers a Risk to Everyone on the Road”–headline, NBCNews website, May 27
To Serve Fox
“Fox News Eats Its Own” is the headline of a Politico op-ed by Bill Scher of the left-liberal think tank Campaign for America’s Future:
The Republican National Committee triumphantly seized control of the debates last year, saying it would not allow a repeat of 2012, when “the liberal media interrogated our candidates on issues that were often not a priority to most Americans. . . . We need more conservatives . . . in the moderator’s chair.”
But what was a play to keep their candidates safe inside a conservative cocoon now looks like a trap. The first Republican presidential debate will air on Fox News and will be moderated by Bret Baier, Megyn Kelly and Chris Wallace—who happen to be the same three anchors that have provoked three Republican candidates into embarrassing gaffes this month. Turns out Fox News’ anchors can make Republican candidates look just as bad as MSNBC’s.
Scher cites tough interviews of Jeb Bush (by Kelly and Sean Hannity) and Marco Rubio (by Wallace). Of the last example, he observes: “If Wallace were not working for Rupert Murdoch, the loaded questions, opinionated assertions and repeated interruptions would earn Wallace a lifetime membership in the Liberal Media Elite Club.”
It’s an odd occasion for schadenfreude. As we are far from the first to point out, Scher is gleeful that Fox—routinely derided by liberals as a right-wing propaganda outfit—is committing journalism. Even more telling: What does this say about liberal expectations of how the liberal media deal with liberal candidates?
For more “Best of the Web” click here and look for the “Best of the Web Today” link in the middle column below “Today’s Columnists.”
