Caricature by DonkeyHotey flic.kr/p/Ct4G4K https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Yesterday, the New York Times let the mask slip in a most public way. The editorial board took over the Twitter feed of its op-ed page, that is the feed that has for years pushed out the latest progressive propaganda to New York Times readers, to start open opposition to the tax reform bill making its way through Congress.

The NYT Editorial Board is urging Senators to vote against the tax bill. Oklahoma’s @SenatorLankford is a key vote. Contact him and tell him why #thetaxbillhurts pic.twitter.com/3cHQ3ZroDX

— New York Times Opinion (@nytopinion) November 29, 2017

The Editorial Board is urging @SenBobCorker to vote against the Senate tax bill because it would increase the federal deficit by more than $1.4 trillion. He’s said he would vote against the bill if it added “one penny to the deficit.” Contact him and tell him #thetaxbillhurts pic.twitter.com/JamVGLnvVO

— New York Times Opinion (@nytopinion) November 29, 2017

Any temporary tax cuts for the middle class would be more than offset by the higher cost of health insurance — a good reason to vote against the tax bill. https://t.co/oSSXZ7H1H3 Tell your senators today: https://t.co/0AtZRQGvM5 #thetaxbillhurts pic.twitter.com/jqjW6cFbuJ

— New York Times Opinion (@nytopinion) November 29, 2017

Contact @LisaMurkowski, (202) 224-6665, particularly if you live in Alaska, to say she should oppose the Senate tax bill because it would drive up the cost of health insurance by repealing Obamacare's individual mandate. #thetaxbillhurts pic.twitter.com/vL9y3zAaF6

— New York Times Opinion (@nytopinion) November 29, 2017

#thetaxbillhurts https://t.co/y6Nu3xmghu

— New York Times Opinion (@nytopinion) November 29, 2017

Contact @SenJohnMcCain and @JeffFlake, particularly if you live in Arizona, and tell them to oppose the tax bill: It would add more than $1.4 trillion to the deficit over 10 years without helping the middle class. #thetaxbillhurts
Flake: (202) 224-4521
McCain: (202) 224-2235 pic.twitter.com/PvXI1b3Xd4

— New York Times Opinion (@nytopinion) November 29, 2017

Only the top 0.2 % of estates, including the one that would benefit President Trump’s family, are subject to the estate tax. The rest of us will pay so they can get a break. #thetaxbillhurts https://t.co/EP8pLEzfkD

— New York Times Opinion (@nytopinion) November 29, 2017

It did not go unnoticed in the White House:

The Failing @nytimes, the pipe organ for the Democrat Party, has become a virtual lobbyist for them with regard to our massive Tax Cut Bill. They are wrong so often that now I know we have a winner!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 30, 2017

Trump is right about what is happening here, or, as Daniel Harsanyi writes in The Federalist The New York Times Finally Admits It’s Just A Democrat Super PAC.

What the editorial board did was unprecedented, but, in my view, welcome. For too long the media have been able to play the Jon Stewart “clown-nose on; clown-nose off” routine, claiming that the newsgathering and editorial function are separate. No one really believes that crap but it is a convenient fiction that the media use to gaslight us into giving credence to their newsgathering as a neutral activity uninfluenced by what the senior staff of the newspaper believe.

I’m not a big believer in the sanctity of news organizations. The First Amendment doesn’t say we have to respect MSNBC or that Trump has to allow them into press gaggles. It just says Congress can’t pass a law banning them or restricting their activity. So the whole “Trump is a danger to the First Amendment” has always struck me as a lazy and dishonest argument. Just the past week these are the top hits for Trump attacking the press:

Especially since January 20, the press has played a blatantly partisan role in national politics. It has cast aside the pretense of being merely skeptical (they can be forgiven for having forgotten how having spent eight years lolling in Barack Obama’s PleasureDungeon^TM between bouts of buggery) and careful in favor of boldly spreading the most scurrilous lies without a moment’s hesitation–even going to the extreme of becoming Pecan Pie Troofers. They want to be part of the Democrat political apparatus but they also want to be treated as though they are above the fray.

By becoming a lobbyist against the tax reform bill, the New York Times has forfeited its already shredded credibility. It is one thing to publish editorials and op-eds opposing the tax plan, it is entirely another to openly campaign against it. The next time Trump attacks them for passing fake news about a lot fewer people will have reason to doubt him.