From the Don't Panic file...

via the indispensable Joe Conason.

Supine cooperation with the G.O.P. has become standard operating procedure in election years for elements of the mainstream media. This year, the Republicans would like nothing better than to demoralize Democrats before the general election actually begins.

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But before anyone takes the media’s funereal pronouncements about Mr. Kerry too seriously, let’s not forget the record of his would-be pallbearers. These are, after all, the same experts who assured us last year that Mr. Kerry had irrevocably blown his chances, that Howard Dean was almost certain to secure the Democratic nomination, and that Mr. Bush was virtually "unbeatable."