Hilzoy has what seems to me to be the definitive post on Tim Russert's harping on Louis Farrakhan's endorsement of Obama. Given that Russert is a travesty of journalism (read "right-wing mouthpiece"), this touches quite definitely on what are going to become the salient characteristics of the general election campaign (assuming Obama does, indeed, win the nomination). Expect a viciously racist campaign, with the press playing cheerleader for the Republicans.
As for the McCain equivalent (which, as Hilzoy points out, it's not -- it's much more egregious than the Obama-Farrakhan thing), Christy Hardin Smith has some astute questions for McCain.
And M. J. Rosenberg has a very cogent analysis of the roots of the whole thing.
Update:
Howie Klein jumps in and really misses a couple of points:
If Hagee has accomplished nothing else in his miserable career of duping suckers and frightened congregents out of their savings, he at least has the usually biased mainstream media-- who have built McCain up into some kind of grand moderate he never was-- looking into McCain's connections with the dangerous lunatic fringe of extremist politics and religionism. It will be hard for them to get out from under the way they grilled Barack Obama about a non-existant relationship with Louis Farrakhan without using the same standards, for a change, in looking at the very real relationship between John McCain and John Hagee.
It will not be hard for the press to "get out from under" because they control the information flow -- they think. They're past masters at ignoring the blogosphere, which is the only alternative to the Villagers, and there's no reason this should be any different. The Tim Russerts will continue to give McCain a free pass until a smaller Tim Russert sees an opportunity to go after the big guys and smear it all over their faces.
But that won't change anything, ultimately. It will all just vanish into the memory hole.
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