Who's sleazier the print media or the Internet?

Bob Herbert is a nasty piece of work. I was going to comment that as Democrats look to an ever more gloomy election forecast, their adherents and advocates in the MFM are getting shriller, but that’s not really true. They have always been shrill. They have always lied and called names. They have always gone for the cheap ad hominem argument. They have always demonized their opponents while defending the felonies of their allies.

Which gets me to the Internet, which has been accused of taking political discourse to a new, lower level. No, the internet has simply fallen to the level that reptiles like Bob Herbert have always held in their commentary.

On any one day you get a much higher level of political discourse on one of the most popular websites – Instapundit – than you get on this – typical – column by Herbert.

When he’s not calling John Boehner “especially sleazy,” he’s claiming that Republicans have “lost their minds” - that they’re “peddling a fantasy” - refers to current levels of defense spending “insane” - claims that “G.O.P. operatives …have spent years frantically looting the U.S. Treasury on behalf of their corporate masters” – and joins the rest of the Democrats in their attempt to do a Saul Alinsky on John Boehner by referring to him as a “ring leader” as if the Republicans in congress were a criminal gang.

In between this frothing rage, we get some unsubstantiated assertions and unfounded predictions along with the evergreen demand for higher taxes that is sure to be found as a macro on their computers (CTRL-Alt-TAX for a paragraph on the absolute need to raise taxes).

Bob Herbert set the bar for character assassination pretty low and it’s hard for the Internet to Limbo below it. Kos did when he celebrated the death of Americans whose bodies were hung on a Baghdad bridge by commenting “screw them.” But for more civil discourse, avoid the NT Times and read the Internet. You won’t have to take a bath to wash the filth off afterward.

UPDATE:  Glenn Reynolds e-mails me to remind me that it was Markos Moulitsas who said "screw them."  For those who inhabit the blogosphere, he's the guiding light behind the Daily Kos (he goes by the nickname "Kos").  Thanks for giving me an opportunity to explain.