I’ve been resisting, but the Daily Howler provides some needed commentary on the Obama-in-turban story. It dominated blog and cable talk yesterday and into today.

The picture was posted by Matt Drudge. It was soon quoted as gospel according to Drudge that its appearance was Clinton dirty work, despite an absence of evidence, despite denials from the Clinton camp and despite the inconvenient fact (thanks Pat Buchanan, for one) that Obama willingly dressed in Somalian Kenyan native garb and presumably had no objection to being depicted this way, since politicians do such all the time. He might even have distributed the photo at the time.

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But the anti-Hillary crowd recognized an opportunity and they took it, everywhere from Talking Points Memo to the religion blog of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (I kid you not). If Drudge implied it, it must be so. No further authority necessary. We’re all Drudge.

You may like Obama. You may dislike Hillary. You may have ample policy grounds for drawing these distinctions. Or your feelings may strictly be personal. All that is politics. But if you’d argue the news media coverage  in this race has been even-handed, you’re blind or dishonest.

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UPDATE: Not that it will change fixed minds, but here’s another assessment of Clinton press coverage, not exactly from her stooges.

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