Why does the New York Times want to take down Tom DeLay?

Bob Livingston writes in Human Events online the reason the liberal media wants to take Tom DeLay out is because he is the most effective Majority Leader in 50 years. And they can not stand that. They even contacted Bob Livingston to write a op-ed on DeLay. When he told them it was going to be positive, they politely told him to never mind.

All of us who make our living inside the Beltway tend to develop pretty thick hides. I know Tom DeLay has one of the thickest. I am also fully aware of the time-honored tradition in a minority party–a “bombs away” attack agenda. The problem I have is the seemingly complete abdication of any independent thought by major media like the New York Times and the Washington Post.

These two venerable newspapers are confirming every Republican suspicion about East Coast media institutions. Coming on the heels of the Dan Rather and CBS News debacle during the presidential campaign, even the most open-minded conservatives begin to detect a trend.

First, let’s get some indisputable facts out on the table. DeLay has been the most effective majority leader of either party in the last half century. Even with the razor-thin margins he has had to work with, when was the last time he lost a vote? His understanding of the intricacies of redistricting is legendary. The only person I know who came close was Rep. John Burton, a liberal Democrat from California whose groundbreakin.g Again, while I lament that my Democratic friends in Congress seem to be more intense about personal attacks than offering legitimate legislative alternatives on the issues of the day, I can at least understand their motives and their goals. What I fail to understand–or perhaps what I hate to admit–is the rather blatant, pro-active cooperation in their campaign by the Washington Post and the New York Times.

…

As now widely reported, I have recent experience with the attack dog mentality at the Times. When a representative of “All the News That’s Fit to Print” called me, the message was immediately obvious. The Times contacted my office fishing for a leading Republican to write a negative op-ed that would call for DeLay’s resignation. When I responded that any op-ed would likely be in defense of DeLay, the response was, “We’ll certainly consider it.” But the clear implication was, “Good luck. It’ll never see the light of day.”

It appears that the press corps has decided that DeLay, for his opinions, his intensity, his effectiveness and his leadership skills, should be the next journalistic scalp in their trophy case.
use of computerized gerrymandering in the 1970s was considered clever and praiseworthy by many of the same voices who condemn DeLay for the same talents. And on a personal note, DeLay is an honorable, compassionate human being who does not deserve the current treatment he gets from much of the media.

I am not surprised by the focus of the Times. It is their character now. They have become a house organ for the Democratic Party. I just hope that the blog world will expose them as CBS was exposed and the misnomer “Paper of Record” is taken from their perceived title.