Well, That Answers That Question...

I have been mystified for quite some time now about the NYT's bizarre deference to President Bush, but the New Yorker (by way of the NY Daily News) has finally made it clear:

[New Yorker writer Ken Auletta] contends: "Within the newsroom, there is a sense of rudderlessness and a fear that a series of business misjudgments may so weaken the company's finances that the brilliance of The Times … will be at serious risk."

Sulzberger's family has controlled the Gray Lady since 1896. But Times chronicler Gay Talese observes, "You get a bad king every once in awhile."

According to Auletta, Sulzberger "seems to lack the weighty seriousness of his predecessors." His stabs at humor "sometimes strike people as immature or sarcastic."

Among several examples was an editorial lunch with Secretary of State Condi Rice where Sulzberger kept alluding to the fact that a bomb-sniffing dog had thrown up on the carpet. "Thank you for sharing that," said Rice, as "some of the reporters present cringed."

Sources tell Auletta that Sulzberger's most trusted confidante, Times CEO Janet Robinson, discourages staffers from revealing to him what they think.

Well, no wonder Sulzberger goes to bat for Dubya - they're the SAME DAMN PERSON!