The Washington Post of Saturday, Oct. 29, published my letter to the editor noting the paper's penchant for endorsing Democrats in the great majority of political races. The letter says:
"After reading your endorsements in the Virginia General Assembly races, I suggest that The Post could save space in the newspaper, and the time and energy of editors and readers, by running a single editorial that begins, 'With the following exceptions, we endorse all the Democrats,' and then lists those few Republicans and independents upon whom your favor has fallen.
"It would not be a long editorial.
"Richard L. Lobb, Fairfax"
http://tinyurl.com/RLobb-Post
I had a rather similar letter printed last year pointing out that the paper decried "lock-step, Democratic rule" in Montgomery County, Maryland -- and then endorsed nearly all the Democrats. "Is that any way to break the lock-step?" I wrote.
The Post can endorse anyone it wants, and everyone knows it is a Democratic paper as far as the editorials are concerned. It is just a bit amusing to see the paper go through the motions of considering all the candidates -- and then fall just short of endorsing a straight ticket.
But I give the Post credit for printing letters that puncture its pretensions a little. Some papers will not countenance any such gentle criticism. The New York Times would never print a letter like that, for example.