Michael Hiltzik of the L.A. Times

Michael Hiltzik was on Hugh Hewitt's show today and I am sorry I missed it due to another sudden attack of employment. Hugh blogs about the two-hour interview here; and Hiltzik gives his side here. The interview must have been a doozy, because it seems that both interviewer and interviewee are still smoldering. Hiltzik seems more upset than Hugh; unless I'm misreading him, Hiltzik's post drips with venom. Perhaps more interesting: If what he says in his blog about the interview is accurate, Hiltzik seemed to come to the interview loaded for bear, with old allegations about Hugh's activities while director of the Nixon Library some 15 years ago. Wow. Meanwhile, Hugh seems to want to let the interview speak for itself.

I think both men reveal a lot about themselves in their blogging. Here's a startling excerpt from Mr. Hiltzik's blog, in which he laments Howard Stern's departure from the free radio dial:

I love Howard Stern; he was one of our few national radio stars, a groundbreaking talent. His show has given me many a guilty laugh, brightening the gray freeway in the morning . . . . On any average morning Stern exposed to open air the way we think at our basest, most unkind moments, when our thoughts aren’t adulterated or moderated by the need to maintain a sociable veneer: the racism, sexism, stereotype-ism, pettiness and meanness that lurk somewhere beneath the surface of even the most sanctimonious Mr. and Mrs. Grundys—especially the most sanctimonious.

I think this paragraph is embarrassing and says a lot more about Mr. Hiltzik than it does about either Howard Stern or the Grundys of the world. Sorry, Mr. Hiltzik, but I found Stern's show to be an appalling attempt to appeal to everyone's baser instincts. And by the way, calling anyone who sees the matter differently than you do "sanctimonious" is a cheap rhetorical trick.

I must note that I have nothing against Michael Hiltzik. I actually had a pleasant encounter myself with Hiltzik a few months back, right here on this little blog. You can read it here,
here, and here.