Iraq'd

One of the things which constantly amazes me is the willingness of the mainstream media to give platform to people who hate them. I don't mean harsh critics - I'd welcome more presentation of serious harsh criticism - I mean people who have literally no respect for what journalism aspires to be. It's why the Bernie Goldberg got dozens or hundreds of hours of promotion for his book "Bias." It's why Howie Kurtz has Assrocket and Hugh Hewitt on his show on a regular basis. I suppose the reasons for this are very simple - by bringing on these idiot critics they placate the right wing frothers while simultaneously confronting cartoon criticism, letting themselves avoid confronting actual criticism. Still, at some point one wonders if enough is every enough? I mean, who would invite Laura Ingraham back on after this crack:

LAURA INGRAHAM, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: To do a show from Iraq means to talk to the Iraqi military, to go out with the Iraqi military, to actually have a conversation with the people instead of reporting from hotel balconies about the latest IEDs going off.

Journalists tend a bit too much to bask in the reflected glory of the accomplishments and activities of their greatest colleagues, but there's certainly reason to have a great deal of respect for people who are actually trying to get the story in Iraq. The truth is it is extremely dangerous for journalists to go out in Iraq - something the right wingers sitting in their basements covered in cheetoes like to attribute to cowardice as they wank away - but it's also the case that some journalists are getting out there one way or another.

Another few millenia in hell awaits Ingraham, I think.

A CBS News correspondent was critically injured and her two-person crew killed Monday when the Baghdad military unit in which they were imbedded was attacked.

Kimberly Dozier, 39, sustained serious injuries in the attack and underwent surgery at a U.S. military hospital in Baghdad, the network reported. She is in critical condition, but doctors are cautiously optimistic about her prognosis.

Cameraman Paul Douglas and soundman James Brolan, both London-based, were killed.