It certainly won't come as a great surprise that not every advocacy group gets the kind of special treatment from the New York Times that MoveOn received Monday with its "General Betray Us" advertisement.

Not only did this far-left group receive a huge discount, but also it was revealed Friday the Times often rejects ads from conservative organizations.

*****Update: Michelle Malkin chimes in.

As reported by the American Spectator (emphasis added throughout, h/t Glenn Reynolds):

The New York Times in the past has rejected "advocacy" ads from Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, as well as from the National Right to Life Committee, despite the fact that both would have qualified for the same "special advocacy, stand by" rates that the radical, left-wing organization MoveOn.org was given for its smear ad of Gen. David Petraeus.

I guess this means the Times isn't an equal opportunity advertiser:

According to a former New York Times ad sales staffer, a coalition of pro-life groups attempted to take out a full-page ad in the Times during the Terri Schiavo debate in Congress, but were turned away. "I think that such a group would have qualified for our advocacy discount, but perhaps the policies changed in the past couple of years," says the ad rep.

Similarly, during the 2004 election season, a representative from Swift Boat Veterans for Truth sought to place a full-page ad in the paper, but was turned away.

Hmmm. Color me unsurprised.

—Noel Sheppard is the Associate Editor of NewsBusters.