Edward R. Murrow Moose continues to demand an apology for a McCarthyite slur.
Yesterday, the Moose decried a blogosphere slander against Senator Joe Lieberman. The slur was directed at the good Senator because he attended the 50th Anniversary Dinner of the National Review which was founded by Joe's friend William F. Buckley. Employing classic guilt by association tactics that were made infamous by Tail Gunner Joe in the 50's, the slander attempted to link Joe with the magazine's anti-federal desegregation past. As the Moose pointed out, this slur is particularly egregious since a young Joe Lieberman actually went to the south to register African-Americans in the early '60s.
Well, today the respected, distinguished and intellectually honest liberal columnist for the Washington Post, E. J. Dionne writes this,
"It is time that I confess to an illicit love. I am now, and have been almost all my life, an admirer of William F. Buckley Jr...
"And it's not easy for any liberal to agree with Buckley's support long ago for Joe McCarthy. (His novel about McCarthy was better). It's hard to credit his views in the civil rights era or to identify with his many knocks on that courageous liberal Republican, former senator Lowell Weicker.
"Still, I will always respect this columnist, editor, novelist, lecturer and organizer because he undertook a mission and carried it out with real genius. He knew conservatism needed a serious intellectual life if conservative ideas were to be considered by those outside the right's faithful remnant. That's why he founded National Review magazine, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. He knew cranks were bad for the movement. He knew that deep splits among conservatives -- between internationalists and isolationists, libertarians and traditionalists -- had to be resolved."
It is unlikely that the slanderers of Senator Lieberman will go after Mr. Dionne for this heresy. You see, these liberal Rovians usually save these unsavory tactics to attack their political foes. Much about the blogosphere should be celebrated. However, it can be guilty of the same yellow journalism as the mainstream press. As E.J. said of Buckley, "He knew cranks were bad for the movement."
Where are the Murrows of the blogosphere? Is anyone besides the Moose upset about this unfair slur? -- | 
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