Political opinion magazines follow the same principle. My friends at Mother Jones figure it's not their job to publish conservative articles. My friends at National Review figure it's not their job to publish liberal articles. From a partisan standpoint, each magazine thinks it's right. But from a journalistic standpoint, each counts on its adversary to tell the other side of the story.
Slate suffers, in different ways, from the same human weakness.
When I came here, I encountered some of the most incisive, independent, tough-minded journalists I had ever met. Yet they had nothing critical to say about Microsoft's side of the federal antitrust dispute. Politically, while nobody at Slate toed the Democratic line in this election, most of us heartily criticized Bush. Yes, Bush deserved it. But often, so did Gore.