Petrelis Files

J-Review: Capehart is No Gay Kapo;
But He Is, Blanche!

Media criticism and accountability are at all an all-time low, and the Columbia Journalism Review is not much interested in raising standards. The CJR'S Joel Meares yesterday offered up the lamest defense of the WaPo's Jonathan "Kapo" Capehart and his sorry-ass puppet head-nodding performance as a top Obama adviser talked about a gay teen suicide a "lifestyle choice."

Meares writes:

Gay activist and blogger Michael Petrelis’s take was harsher and aimed at Capehart rather than Jarrett. Calling Capehart the Post’s “gay kapo,” Petrelis wrote [...]

Normally, I wouldn’t bother chiming in here; this is very much flash-in-the-blog-pan stuff that will likely disappear from Memeorandum before I’ve finished writing this. And we’re not ones to typically rush to the defense of Beltway boys when accused of access baiting.

However, it’s an issue close to me, and the suggestion that Capehart should ignore the bulk of what Jarrett is saying and instead call her out on the use a single antiquated phrase, seems, frankly, unfair (especially in an interview that was originally about infrastructure).

Hello, Mr. Media Critic? I hope you wouldn't say it unfair of an activist to demand a reporter call out a politician or high-level assistant if they were to refer to the Soviet Union as still standing.

Yes, I find it offensive when people use the term “lifestyle choice” to refer to an orientation, but Jarrett’s heart is clearly in the right place—to interject and challenge her on the use of the phrase after the sentences that preceded it is not only a distraction (Capehart is a journalist, not an activist) but counterproductive to the cause Petrelis is an activist for.

Is Meares a cardiologist or a press watchdog? His heart reference echoes what Capehart offered in meek explanation over not challenging Jarrett:

That's why I didn't correct her or ask her to explain herself during our sit-down at the White House. But viewers don't know her heart.

Back to CJR and Meares:

Similarly, smearing Capehart as a “gay kapo” is as unfounded as it is extreme. Capehart may be a Washington insider, flitting between the pages of The Washington Post and the studios of MSNBC—and he did launch a pretty spirited defense of Jarrett here—but he is also one of the mainstream media’s most visible, active voices on gay causes. 

Um, where is the proof he's ever criticized the Obama administration or that's he not a gay kapo? Click here for proof of Capehart sticking up for the White House on Don't Ask Don't Tell and criticizing the gays more than the administration.

And why is Meares touting Capehart as a great gay voice in the media supposedly for his gay community, when he's allegedly an unbiased reporter for the WaPo?

This week he has been particularly active in drawing attention to the tragic issue of gay suicides, not just by bringing it up with Jarrett, but in his television appearances and writings.

Sounds like he's been advocating for a cause, not that there's anything wrong with that, I just Meares and Capehart would stop trying to persuade readers that Capehart is anything less than a shill for the Obama administration. Capehart could set up shop tomorrow at the Human Rights Campaign and the tone of what he writes for the WaPo wouldn't change one iota.