I’ve only just caught up with Jay Rosen’s excellent essay on the false distinction between opinion and news. He poses a more useful distinction: “People who know what they’re talking about (good) vs. people who don’t (bad).”
Brad DeLong characteristically isn’t mincing his words: “Is there any reason to think that this administration has the competence to make any policy a success? The victories in Afghanistan and Iraq were the result of the extraordinary professional skill of the U.S. armed forces — of William Cohen’s army, let’s call it. It’s only when the Bush political appointees touch it, but whenever they touch it they do turn gold into mud.”