The New York Times and Romney: Lost and Without a Clue

The New York Times tried to play gotcha today with Mitt Romney and displayed truly awful journalism.  How clever we are, they thought: we will show that Romney’s position on energy in 2012 is different from the one he laid out in his book in 2010.  Isn’t this what tough, gritty reporting is all about?

No, it isn’t.  The whole attack is misguided, since reasonable people change their minds about things all the time, even if they can’t admit it while they are running for president.  Unreasonable people also change their minds, or never had a mind in the first place, but inconsistency doesn’t help you figure out who they are.  Readers of this supposedly serious analysis will learn exactly nothing of value.

Meanwhile, here is what the article didn’t say: it is an unquestionable fact that neither Obama nor Romney have it within their power to alter the market price of oil.  The fact that oil prices have risen by more than a third in the last two years has zilch to do with government policy.  The whole “issue” is stupid.