The Right to Know

Some of the blogospheric buzz today is the lock down on a tape taken of Rashid Khalidi's going away party. Andy McCarthy makes the hard-to-argue point of a double-standard--who doesn't think the Times wouldn't release it if the video showed Palin at a party for young-earth creationists or secessionists? But he's a winger.

Jeralyn Merritt is not. Here's what she said about Khalidi back in April:

But I would like an explanation from Obama on his expressed support for Israel and his past support for Khalidi, which was shared by Ayers. In view of Obama's extensive reachout to Jewish voters, I think that's a reasonable request.

Yes she was a Hillary supporter, but in the same piece she praised Ayers and Dohrn, giving weight to her "reasonable request". After all, since Obama espouses the sunshine in government philosophy when it pertains to Bush it's reasonable to assume his own windows remain open.

But the bigger question is perhaps not whether the Times will release it, but whether anyone in the mainstream press is daring enough to ask Obama about it. For that matter, will they even ask him about the Syrian raid (since it seems to follow the Obama doctrine)? We've seen what happens when the campaign doesn't like the question.