A media person explains why the media can't call idiots "idiots"

This column sheds much light on the craven nature of America's large media. In it, someone at the LA Times explains why it just wasn't possible for anyone in the media to come out and say about Palin - a serious candidate for the second-highest political office in the US - "hey - she's a fucking idiot".

This bit right here really brings the "argument" home:

Alas, we cannot [rip idiots like Palin to shreds]. Not only because it would be cheap and lazy and unbecoming, but also because Palin is too well-shielded by her own incompetence.

So: it is now "cheap" and "lazy" to call someone who is cheap and lazy "cheap" and "lazy", even a candidate for one of the highest positions of the land, and incompetence is an effective political strategy. It is difficult to imagine a clearer statement on the mindset that is preventing the press from actually being able to analyze and present in a serious way the major problems facing America today.