Tom Daschle, the respected health care wonk with the legislative experience and expertise needed to force health care reform through an obstructionist Senate, withdrew from the Obama cabinet because of the New York Times.

Well, actually because he became the second Obama cabinet appointee guilty of not paying some taxes, and you can really only let one of those through, and Geithner, whose tax problems were way worse and more clearly his own damn fault, got there first. But Daschle still could've been confirmed! It would've meant another day or two of embarrassing headlines, but the guy was still a lock to make it through the Senate. Except for one thing: the milquetoast liberal ninnies of the New York Times editorial board:

The source said Daschle read the Tuesday New York Times editorial urging him to withdraw from consideration but would not say whether that might have played a part in his decision.

Hah, remember what centrist-liberal leadership looks like? It looks like a bunch of rich white dudes in midtown ponderously tut-tutting the messiness of politics and people in power actually caring about what they say. It also involves these establishment liberals absorbing and internalizing the arguments of the disproportionately powerful fringe right-wing, just because they're used to it and also out of a sense of The Essential Goodness of Working Together with people who have expressed a desire to see their offices leveled by terrorists (people like Bill Kristol, who, until recently, they employed).

If the Weekly Standard had ever run an editorial about how Bush should fire Condi Rice for being too nice to Iran or something, would he have listened? No. This is why they can run the country into the ground with 49 percent of the vote and a slim majority in both houses and Democrats can't build it back up with 52% and a bigger majority.