The New York Times reporting will be friendly to Hillary Clinton during the presidential campaign. That is a given.
But if Jill Abramson were still editor, well–news reporting on Hillary Clinton in the Times might have been even blinder to Mrs. Clinton's–uh–imperfections than it will this season.
In her latest Guardian column, headlined "Hillary Clinton, A Nasty, Mean Enabler? The Claim Is Ludicrous," Ms. Abramson outdoes her oft-quoted previous opus headlined "This May Shock You. Hillary Clinton Is Fundamentally Honest." (Gotta love that "fundamentally.")
Abramson defends Mrs. Clinton against attacks on her handling of her husband's sexual misconduct being lodged by GOP rival Donald Trump. Caveat: I am appalled by Trump's attacks on women, but, unlike Abramson, I sort of like it that in the case of Mrs. Clinton, he is unafraid.
Abramson also has some interesting information in the column–Roger Stone, according to Abramson, has enlisted Kathleen Willey, one of the women who lodged accusations against Bill Clinton, to lead an anti-Hillary effort called Rape Pac. New low and all that, but it does highlight facets of the Clinton history
But poor, poor Hillary:
As first lady and now as candidate, Clinton is right to smell noxious partisan and ideological motives. Back in the 90s, a group of conservative lawyers called “the elves” secretly worked to keep the Paula Jones case alive. After the Monica Lewinsky scandal and the failed impeachment drive against President Clinton, I went to a strange tribute dinner for Linda Tripp, the woman who betrayed the young former White House intern by taping her conversations about having sex with Clinton. A rightwing group called Free Republic hosted the tribute at an old plantation in South Carolina.
Boo hoo for Hillary on the noxious partisan motives. The Clintons raised noxious partisan campaigning to a new level. As for Tripp's "betrayal" of Monica Lewinsky, the real betrayer of Monica Lewinsky was Bill Clinton. He should be remembered as the first president who seemed to think the Oval Office was Motel 6. And "an old plantation in South Carolina"–woo, that is almost as scary as noxious partisan motives. This is going to be a very low-brow campaign–on both sides.
Hillary Clinton must have been very sad when Abramson involuntarily left the Times–having this kind of advocacy in the U.K.'s left-wing Guardian isn't nearly as nice as having it in the Grey Lady.
Not that I expect the Times scribes to be slouches this year.