The American Spectator

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The op-ed in the "Times" shows a big media ego in full flower. Every word can be savored. I will limit myself to two particular claims.

The first is positively Clintonesque, when Koppel writes that when his show started his bosses at ABC told him late night ratings success would come if "Nightline" finished a "respectable third." He then writes: "We did better than that. Over the past 22 years we have been, and continue to be, a consistent competitive second." But how can he be second when it's widely acknowledge that Leno and Letterman are one-two in Koppel's time slot? Letterman would hardly be worth more to ABC if his numbers were worse than Koppel's.

But the real beaut comes late -- confirming, as it were, that patriotism is the last refuge of a Koppel:

"I would argue that in these times, when homeland security is an ongoing concern, when another terrorist attack may, at any time, shatter our sense of normalcy, when American troops are engaged in Afghanistan, the Philippines, Yemen and Georgia, when the likelihood of military action against Iraq is growing - when, in short, the regular and thoughtful analysis of national and foreign policy is more essential than ever - it is, at best, inappropriate and, at worst, malicious to describe what my colleagues and I are doing as lacking relevance."

He didn't say it, but you know he meant to. If "Nightline" goes, the terrorists will have won.

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