It's War, and the Washington Post Knows It

The Washington Post exposed a fraud this week, which is not particularly remarkable. But there was something unusual about it. Leading institutions of the American press sometimes behave as if they soar so high above the antics of partisan buffoons -- is that a gutter I spy way down there? -- that it’s hardly worth acknowledging their existence, let alone their tactics.

Critics might attribute that posture to a condescending arrogance, and that’s partly true. But it’s the arrogance of an institution that believes not only in the importance of its mission and the righteousness of its values, but also in the unassailable quality of its methods, pursued and refined over decades.