The Times Laments "America in Decline"

The New York Times today has a front page article on the last episode of the HBO series The Sopranos. But, this being the Times, it was more than just a review--it was an attack on America.

The decline and fall of the Sopranos — Tony; his wife, Carmela; and the rest — served as a parable of America in decline, yet week to week the series was also just a gangsters’ tale, with lots of graphic sex, gruesome violence and most of all a sense of humor.

Note the totally unnecessary reference to "America in decline." That may be Alessandra Stanley's personal opinion (she is a Times reporter, so what do you expect?), but it has no place in a TV review unless you are Counterpunch, the Daily Worker, or the New York Times.

This is not the first time the Times has allowed the political radicalism of its arts critics to creep into their articles.

Two years ago, I pointed out that architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff did the same thing in an article on Ground Zero. He used that platform to attack America as "a society that has turned its back on any notion of cultural openness" and "an empire enthralled with its own power."

If you have a problem with this, don't bother to complain to the newly appointed Empty Suit, "public editor" Clark Hoyt. His inaugural column, on Sunday, follows the Barney Calame tradition of serving as a public relations conduit for Times editors.

The subject of his column was the Times' failure to put the JFK terror plot on page one. Hoyt tackled the subject in Calamesque fashion by interviewing the editors and swallowing their excuses.

Don't worry, Clark. Just two more years before you can go back to your divan.