Dana Milbank is one of the Washington Post's most rabid Democrats; he covers the White House and reliably churns out the DNC line. Like many reporters, however, he is out of touch with the voters. On November 7, he wrote an article about how evangelical Christians turned out for President Bush, one of the main media themes of the 2004 election.

When Milbank writes about evangelical Christians, he might as well be describing an obscure species of beetle. He doesn't seem to have any first-hand experience with such creatures, nor does he frequent their habitat. This led him to make this mistake, a howler for anyone who has even a passing acquaintance with prominent conservative commentators:

[Focus on the Family's] head, James Dobson, said, "I think God has honored" Bush because "the president did acknowledge Jesus Christ." The same program broadcast a statement by Dennis Prager, a Christian commentator, saying "civilization as we understand it was in the balance" in the election, and "a beautiful man has been vindicated."

This blunder led to the following correction a few days later:

Correction to This Article: A Nov. 7 article about religious conservatives incorrectly described Dennis Prager as a Christian. He is Jewish. His commentary had been replayed on a Christian radio program.

The fact that Dennis Prager is a Jew who has worked hard (and successfully) to build bridges between Jewish and Christian conservatives is not exactly a closely guarded secret. This is a good illustration of how far out of the mainstream the "mainstream" media are. They take seriously little-known fruitcakes like Larry O'Donnell, while at the same time, they are entirely unaware of serious, thoughtful commentators like Dennis Prager, who influence millions of Americans.

Posted by John at 10:36 PM  |    |  

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