The Shame of the Left

Jay Rosen, of PressThink, and others have been criticizing those of us who have kept the Eason Jordan story alive as politically motivated:

I also agree with Robert Cox of The National Debate who said to an e-mail list we're both on: "Right-wing bloggers have swarmed." They "think they have the next Rathergate when they may well have the next Kerry Intern rumor." We still have to see the tape to know.

This is wrong. The reason for the continued life of this story in the blogosphere is that apparently outrageous and unfounded allegations were made against US troops, then the mainstream media stonewalled the story.

If a conservative media exec had made the allegations of which Eason Jordan is accused, the blogs on the right would have responded in much the same way. The simple fact is that right-wing bloggers tend to support the troops wholeheartedly; it's not pro forma lip service as it is for so many on the left. That's a cause for shame on the left, and an indication that the liberal lobe of the blogosphere is not fully mature.