Times Watch Quotes of Note: Charles Blow Conflates Concern Over Bias With Newt's (Alleged) Racism

Charles Blow Conflates Concern Over Liberal Bias With Newt's (Alleged) Racism

“Romney dares not go there. Not Newt. He’s the street fighter with a history of poisonous politics who not only goes there but dwells there. He makes his nest among the thorns of open animus and coded language. Take the issue of media bias for instance: according to a September Pew Research Center poll, more than three-quarters of Republicans said that news organizations are politically biased. That was appreciably higher than both independents and Democrats. And that same month a Gallup poll found that three-quarters of Republicans believe that the news media are too liberal. This, too, was appreciably higher than independents and Democrats.” – From Charles Blow’s January 21 column, “Newt’s Southern Strategy.”

Newt, the “N-Word” Candidate

“We have 10 days until the Fla. primaries. Maybe I'll be able to get in one column that's not abt what a vile, reptilian, hatemonger Newt is.”
"Food Stamps" again... You know what. Just go on and use the "N" word and get it over with. I'm tired...” – From the Twitter feed of columnist Charles Blow, January 21.

NYT Quotes 'Retired Cuban Leader' Castro on 'Idiocy' of GOP Field

“As the Republicans appealed for votes among Cuban-Americans and other Hispanics, one person who said he was not enamored of the field expressed his distaste: Fidel Castro, the retired Cuban leader whose 1959 takeover prompted the exodus of Cubans to South Florida. ‘The selection of a Republican candidate for the presidency of this globalized and expansive empire is -- and I mean this seriously -- the greatest competition of idiocy and ignorance that has ever been,’ he wrote in an opinion piece in state-owned news media. He had reason to be annoyed. In Monday’s debate, Mr. Gingrich said he would authorize covert actions to bring down the Cuban government, while Mr. Romney cited the Jan. 19 death of a Cuban prisoner, Wilman Villar Mendoza, in calling for maintaining a tough policy toward Cuba. The candidates also discussed whether the 85-year-old leader would go to heaven or hell.” – Michael Shear and Trip Gabriel from Miami, January 26.

Public Editor Admits Liberals Read the Times “Because It Mirrors Their Views”

“I have no problem stating here that in the domain where opinion writers ply their trade for The Times, the liberal view is overwhelmingly dominant. The Times is within its rights to contract for such material, as the opinion sphere is distinct from the news sphere, and there can be little doubt that the Times ownership and editorial page ascribe to a liberal perspective....This brings forward another ingredient in this situation: The Times’s audience. That audience consists of New Yorkers, by and large a liberal population, and national readers, many of whom select The Times because it mirrors their views....I remain steadfastly opposed to the paper proffering only liberal perspectives in news coverage. But in the opinion-based features of the paper, The Times is within its right to do this. In my view, it makes for predictable and sometimes very dull reading. But others apparently don’t agree.” – Public Editor Arthur Brisbane responding to a letter from a spokesman for Koch Industries, a frequent target of Times writers, January 10.
 

You can read the full series of liberally biased quotes from the Times here.