AmericaBlog is one that I read daily, with full awareness that it's rabidly partisan, often shrill, and sometimes borderline unhinged. This one, however, stopped me cold. Citing this WaPo story, John Aravosis says in his post:
Washington Post calls being gay a "lifestyle choice"
[. . .]
And it's not just the headline, it's in the article itself. They're talking about being gay (unless they're going to claim that they meant opposing abortion is a "lifestyle choice," and if so, they're entering Alice in Wonderland territory).
In point of fact, no.
In the online version of the story, the headline is different, and the only use of the term "lifestyle choices" in in the lede:
For nearly two years, a young political aide sought to cultivate a "farm system" for Republicans at the Justice Department, hiring scores of prosecutors and immigration judges who espoused conservative priorities and Christian lifestyle choices.
I think we can all agree that a "Christian life" is a matter of choice.
Even in the version Aravosis has posted, the "lifestyle choices" bit in the subhead can't really be taken as a reference to gays. The widest interpretation, as far as I can see, still leaves it value-neutral, and the obvious connotation is that it's about the right wing.
There's been plenty to criticize WaPo for over the past few years, enough that I don't think we need to make shit up. I've seen Aravosis spin stuff until it made me dizzy, but this is beyond the Pale. (He's even got this one labeled "gay." Please.) One of the advantages Left Blogistan has over Right Blogistan is that we don't do that.
Let's keep it that way.
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