Never mind "clever" or "skilled."

When I went to college, there was a "right" series of views to hold, and a "wrong" series. Nobody collected everyone in an auditorium and told them what the "right" views were. Nobody sent out memos, posted information sheets on the telephone poles, or "coordinated" anything.

After you spent a certain amount of time in an environment, particularly in a classroom with a professor, you got the drift. I got booed by a classroom once for suggesting that the free market would work for phone companies. Some people keep their views through college, keeping them quiet. Others change them enthusiastically.

I assume somewhat the same thing is true when you start working in a newsroom.

It is obvious to the meanest intelligence that a large majority of the media and the press was intensely interested in getting the Democrats back in power. It isn't a "plot." It isn't "coordinated." Over time, liberals have found themselves more comfortable in the mainstream news environment than conservatives. Same as in academia.

I tuned in once or twice during the latter portions of the election, and the contrast between the joyous faces last Tuesday, compared to the ashen, stunned faces in the last portions of the 2004 election, was amazing. I actually thought Dan Rather was going to have a stroke or something the night Bush was re-elected. Do you know how long it took for some networks to finally call Ohio for Bush back then?

People constantly point out that Fox News and its view are the Freak of Nature in the business. What's the inescapable corollary to that premise?

The New York Times, the paper of record, is proudly liberal, and has said so. So are the other major papers of record. The line services, particularly the AP and Reuters, lean left.

And the government?

The mighty Republican majority lasted all of 12 years, and only for the first part of that were they really Republican as such. Prior to that, Democrats ruled the roost for a generation.

Right wing talk radio is less than 20 years old, following the dropping of the Fairness Doctrine back in 1987 (restoring the Doctrine to power is very high on the list of some Democrats in the House). Fox News is a grand total of 10 years old.

And do you honestly think evangelicals have had that much cultural impact? I can't remember a mainstream movie or TV show that did not depict evangelicals as monsters.