Mitt Romney's handling of events in Libya and Egypt backfired in a big way. How will the Republican campaign and its allies put this behind them? By blaming news organizations and media professionals who were bothered by his dishonest incompetence.
As Mitt Romney finishes his second week of dismal news coverage -- with slipping polls and a combustible international crisis driving the narrative that the campaign is flailing -- the campaign's frustration with the media that covers it is approaching the boiling point. [...][F]rustration is building behind the scenes, egged on by a conservative media and Twitter conversation that has blamed the media for accusing Romney of a premature response to the crises in Libya and Egypt.
To say that the right is coalescing around this anti-media argument would be an understatement. The Wall Street Journal editorial page, Ari Fleischer, Erick Erickson, John Podhoretz, Rich Lowry, Philip Klein, and others are all pushing a very similar line: the media has been unfair to Romney.
Ed Kilgore's mockery rings true.
I've never completely understood the persecution complex of American conservative gabbers. They are, after all, aligned with the wealthiest and most powerful people in the world. They have their own large and very well-funded "shadow media" and public relations complex, even as the hated MSM constantly seeks to buy off criticism by conspicuously hiring conservative "voices." They totally dominate one entire medium, radio, and dominate all media in many parts of the country. I get the distinct impression that conservative media types have a lot easier time supporting themselves than folks on the left. But to hear them, they are perpetually shunned and persecuted for their brave and selfless advocacy of the status quo and the status quo ante.
I think that's right, but in this case, the complaining is even more inexplicable. Mitt Romney, during a crisis in which Americans were killed overseas, lied. In the course of lying, Romney falsely accused the Obama administration of "sympathiz[ing] with" terrorists. The comments drew rebukes from Republican lawmakers, Republican pundits, and Republican foreign policy hands. A former Romney advisor added, "They stepped in it."
And now Romney and his allies are outraged this faced media blowback? What did they think would happen?