Political Reporters Without Politics

By Ken Silverstein

From Politico:

Time Managing Editor Richard Stengel, reacting on Monday to Jay Carney’s decision to leave the magazine for a job with the Obama administration, said that his outgoing Washington bureau chief “doesn’t have any kind of ideology.”

“I didn’t even know Jay was a Democrat,” Time’s Joe Klein wrote in an e-mail to Politico. “Really,” Klein continued. “He has great Republican sources from his days covering the Bush White House and he’s one of those guys who always seemed pretty balanced at editorial meetings when it came to evaluating the latest developments. (Which I guess is a quality you want in a communications director.)”

“Another Time staffer said that Carney “doesn’t seem to have politics” and had never expressed any partisan views in editorial meetings.”

All undoubtedly true. If McCain had won, Carney might well have accepted a job as spokesman with someone for his administration.The fact that Time’s bureau chief apparently had no political ideas is perhaps the most disturbing part of the whole story.