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Have Newt Gingrich or George Will Been Writing the Editorials for the Washington Post lately? Or maybe it’s Richard Perle?

A BUZZFLASH EDITORIAL

The Washington Post is a newspaper, after all, whose editorial board SUPPORTED the nomination of Miguel Estrada (see [LINK]). Moreover, in their Federalist Society editorial, they made Federal Judge Laurence Silberman into a role model, when he is in fact a highly partisan pro-Republican judge who had a role in the Iran-Contra North/Poindexter overturns, the appointment of Ken Starr as special prosecutor, and the upholding of John Ashcroft’s KGB style powers. In David Brock’s book, "Blinded by the Right," Silberman was actively advising others on how to attack Clinton, while Silberman heard matters in court relating to the efforts to impeach Clinton. That’s the kind of judge that the Washington Post implicitly upholds as a role model in its argument that the Democrats should have voted Estrada onto the bench. (Fortunately for Americans, Estrada withdrew his name from nomination the first week in September.)

In mid-August, however, the Post ventured beyond mere partisan support for the Bush administration Neo-Confederacy judicial agenda. On August 14, the Washington Post published an editorial that mocked and derided Europeans for complaining about an unprecedented lethal summer heat wave that spread across the continent. The commentary was lathered in the style of the sneering elitist Neo-Con contempt for the "Old Europe," an editorial that signaled that the Post had taken a giant step over into the dark side.

Before we proceed any further, let’s present Exhibit A, the actual Post editorial from August 14:

TO LISTEN TO THE FUSS Europeans are making about their weather, anyone would think that it was actually hot over there. In Paris, shops have experienced a run on electric fans. In Sweden, a male bus driver showed up for work in a skirt after his company informed him that he was not allowed to wear shorts. In Amsterdam, zookeepers are giving iced fruit to their chimpanzees to cool them off.

Okay, so maybe it's a bit warmer than usual. Temperatures across the continent have shot up into the 90s and once or twice have topped 100 degrees in London and Paris. But is this really hot -- hot enough to close businesses, hot enough to cancel trains (the tracks might buckle), hot enough to wax nostalgic for the summer rain to which some Europeans, notably residents of the British Isles, are more accustomed?

Last time we checked, the weather here in Washington was in the upper 80s, which is average to low for this time of year. Temperatures in Houston and Dallas in the past couple of days have topped 100, as they usually do in summer. Yet somehow, no one's talking about extraordinary measures being taken by Texans or Washingtonians. On the contrary, President Bush, who qualifies as both, by some measures, is currently mocking the press corps by pretending to enjoy jogging in the Texas heat. Not all Europeans may want to go this far -- but maybe they will now at least stop turning up their noses at those American summer inventions they've long loved to mock: The office window that doesn't open, the air conditioner that produces sub-arctic temperatures and the tall glass of water, served in a restaurant, filled to the brim with ice.

At the time the Post decided to run the editorial, there were reports of 1,000 – 3,000 persons already killed by the heat wave in France alone. A more recent (August 29th) BBC report estimated that at least 11,000 French died as a result of the heat wave. The association of French undertakers put the death toll even higher at 13,000 dead. The BBC article noted that:

An estimated 11,435 people died in France's heatwave in the first half of August, according to the country's Health Ministry.

Temperatures rose to over 40C in the first two weeks of the month, leading to an unusually high number of deaths of mainly elderly people and putting a heavy strain on mortuaries and funeral services.

The figures are the first official government tally.

"These are provisional figures, but duty to the truth obliges me to make them public right now," said Health Minister Jean-Francois Mattei in a statement.

Estimates by the country's leading undertakers' group have been consistently higher than the government's. Pompes Funebres Generales, which represents 25% of the French funerals market, said on Thursday it was standing by its latest estimate of 13,000 dead. [LINK]

How does one account for the sneering, malicious tone of the Washington Post editorial? After all, it sounds like it was written by Richard Perle, totally consistent with the Perle/Bush/Rumsfeld dismissive portrayal of the "Old Europe" as being symbolic of effete wimpiness.

Further decode the editorial and you see George W. Bush, the great pretender, making a cameo appearance as a heroic figure who not only doesn’t complain about the heat (no doubt because he only ventures out of air-conditioned comfort for photo-ops that try to convey the laughable image that he is a working rancher) but, according to the Post, "is currently mocking the press corps by pretending to enjoy jogging in the Texas heat." Clearly, the Washington Post buys the whole Karl Rove crafted Marlboro Man image.

Yes, the Washington Post editorial board occasionally supports some moderately enlightened social policies, but increasingly it has become a megaphone for the Neo-Con faction that has led America down a dark economic, national security, environmental and social hole.

Dismissing the deaths of thousands of Europeans is the sign of a newspaper editorial board that has lost all sense of civility and responsibility as members of a human community.

Quel Dommage! (What a pity!)

The real question is who is writing the Washington Post editorials such as this one these days? What is their relationship with the White House and members of the Bush Cartel?

Are editorials like the one above written at the Post headquarters? Or are they written at the White House and just e-mailed over for publication?

Our sincerest condolences to the families of thousands and thousands of people who died in Europe as a result of this summer’s heat wave.

But we can’t apologize for the crude, heartless arrogance of the Washington Post. They would have to write their own mea culpa.

But don’t hold your breath. After all, Karl Rove never apologizes, does he?

A BUZZFLASH EDITORIAL

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