I must say, that of all the post-election criticism of conservative media (and not all of it undeserved), yesterday’s crowing from the BenSmithers over at BuzzFeed Politics was the most dopey.
McKay Coppins and Ben Smith and the media in general won this election — there’s no question about that. And as a consequence, they have every right to crow over dragging Obama over the finish line. You haven’t seen me begrudge anyone that right. Heaven knows that if those 400k votes in those four swing states had gone the other way, I’d be just as insufferable right now.
But to be lectured by BuzzFeed Politics and McKay Coppins specifically about “journalism,” is just a bridge too far.
Breitbart Managing Editor (and my godson), Alex Marlow:
Earlier Tuesday, editor-in-chief Ben Smith‘s top political reporter, McKay Coppins, went after the Breitbart News team again with a piece literally titled “How The Conservative Media Lost The Election.” The social media site seized the opportunity for an online conservative movement reeling from GOP loss piece, but Coppins operates from a surprising assumption. He frames it as though the conservative new media, still in its infancy, already had the power to win the election for the GOP, but we just didn’t do a good enough job.
If you think of it that way, it’s quite flattering. After all, Breitbart News launched its first group blog, Big Hollywood, the day after Obama’s 2009 inauguration. The pathologically left-wing Washington Post, for example, was founded in 1877.
Breitbart readers are aware that BuzzFeed Politics is to be taken with a grain of salt. After all, the author of this particular piece was the same BuzzFeed reporter whom Breitbart News embarrassed when a hot mic caught him badmouthing Romney on the campaign trail. …
While Breitbart was undertaking the serious business of trying to understand Barack Obama, Buzzfeed was trying to tarnish Mitt Romney with silliness:
- Here’s BuzzFeed undermining Romney’s success by writing up his car elevator.
- Of course BuzzFeed degraded Ann Romney by putting her in a fake erectile disfunction ad.
- Guns blazing, McKay Coppins unleashed the
definitive exposé
on Mitt Romney’s alleged spray tan.
- Right before the election, BuzzFeed found it important to dedicate resources to debunking “the myth” of Mitt’s dad, George.
- And creepiest of all, BuzzFeed made sure to stalk the Romney grand kids and publish pictures of them.
There’s plenty more where that came from. But again, it was Breitbart News that was wasting time–nay, damaging the conservative movement–by vetting the President.
You’ll want to read it all here.
Ben Smith and McKay Coppins are now so far gone that stories about Romney’s spray tan and the vetting of Romney’s dad, qualify as journalism — but not our vetting of a sitting president.
Who are these people? Anyway…
Take a breath, BenSmithers, before you get all excited and leave yourselves open for the kind of mockery that will never go away.
Whoops, too late.
Talk about shooting before you aim…