"Absolute truth" ain't what it used to be

Jill Abramson set to become NY Times new executive editor.

Key quote:

Ms. Abramson, 57, said that as a born-and-raised New Yorker, she considered being named editor of The Times to be like “ascending to Valhalla.”

“In my house growing up, The Times substituted for religion,” she said. “If The Times said it, it was the absolute truth.”

Hmm: journalism as religion. Is the headquarters of the Times now a church or a temple? Are kiosks that sell the Times prayer stations or sacrificial alters? Should critics who point out the fact that the Times and much of the rest of the secular media is biased and inaccurate be considered heretics or infidels? When Times reporters write editorials endorsing candidates, does this violate the separation of church and state? Should the Times be considered a religious document and banned from public schools along with the Bible? And - Darwin forbid! - does throwing away a copy of the Times or letting your pet poop on it constitute desecration?

It looks like the Times will soon be giving the Onion a run for its money.

UPDATE (11:18 PM): It appears that in addition to "absolute truth" not quite being absolute, it is also not permanent. The Times has removed the quote I cited in my post. Over at Instapundit (a daily must-read for me) Professor Reynolds has noticed it as well.

I had thought about doing a screen capture of the original article, but I decided against it. Foolish move on my part. I should have realized that Abramson's quote was so dumb it probably would be dumped down the memory hole sooner or later. Which is exactly what happened.