Some people like Helen Thomas. Last week I had some unfavorable words for her. Apparently some blogger has come to her defense and is sending readers my way. Since yesterday I seem to have gotten a giant spike in pro-Helen Thomas email (along with the usual nasty comments for me). Apparently she’s more talented, intelligent and credible than I could ever be. That’s the G-rated version of the consensus.

This is a perfect example of how ideological ardor can color judgement. In Washington, Helen Thomas has been a bipartisan joke for decades. She’s nasty, untalented and deeply, deeply biased. She was when she was a “reporter.” And she is now. People defer to her because she’s an “institution.” That anyone could hate-Bush (or what I had to say in his defense) so much as to lionize Helen Thomas is a sign of bone-deep intellectual bankruptcy or just plain ignorance.