OH, THAT LIBERAL MEDIA:

When a group called the Young Conservatives of Texas was preparing to protest a Bill Clinton appearance in the state, Steve McLinden, a Fort Worth Star-Telegram reporter, used the paper’s e-mail to send the group this message:

“Ah, the heartless, greedy, anti-intellectual little fascists are mobilizing again. (Let me guess. All you frat boys saved up your allowances and monies from your McDonald’s jobs for those Beemers you’ll be driving to the protest, and those new jackboots you’ll be sportin’ en route).”

Editor Jim Witt let McLinden go that day and apologized to the group. “Obviously, reporters have opinions,” Witt says. “But we expect our reporters not to express those opinions unless they’re columnists.”

What’s most notable, of course, is the juvenile, sneering, substance-free tone. When you send an email like this — especially if you’re a journalist — what, exactly, do you expect to accomplish here?

And can we trust this guy to honestly cover people he openly regards as greedy little fascists?