Earlier today, the Washington Post published allegations that Mitt Romney was a bully back in prep school (link). I didn't read the story, but that's not what this post is about.

Instead, this is a meta post: the WaPo's story is yet another example of how the establishment media is going to help Barack Obama be reelected. The media will publish or broadcast story after story just like the current story; some or most of it might be true to some extent or other. The response from Mitt Romney's defenders - whether those inside the campaign, those on TV and radio, or right-wing bloggers - will be incompetent and largely ineffective.

Enough people will hear the original story (or, even worse, a version of the story transmogrified through the game of Telephone) to believe it. Romney's loudest defenders won't be able to do much of anything about it due to a combination of various personal issues they have. And, finally, by late October, those defenders will be sitting in a corner rocking back and forth.

Of course, anyone's welcome to disagree. Here's the Memeorandum thread. Check out the major rightwing blogs and in comments, let me know the one you think will most likely have any impact on what the media does (the post by Erick Erickson of RedState has a hilariously-incompetent title, so visit that one last if you need a laugh).

And, yes, I've written similar posts before and there's also these. I'm pointing out a problem that needs to be acknowledged and dealt with; those Romney supporters who delude themselves about the problem aren't doing themselves any favors.

And, in case anyone is wondering, I could take effective steps against the media's campaign if not in this case then in many others (look around; there are dozens of links on each page). But, part of the incompetence of Romney's loudest defenders includes having issues that prevent them from helping those few who could effectively oppose the media's campaign against Romney.