ALL THE NEWS THAT FITS: The once estimable New York Times is getting to be overtly laughable in its lack of pretense to anything resembling objectivity on its front page. Unless of course the times has decided to make page one its second editorial section. Today's joke: For an above-the -old story indicating that Novak placed a call to Rove and advised him of Plame's alleged undercover status, here's the headline that seems right to the Times: "Rove Reportedly Held Phone Talk on C.I.A. Officer." This implies Rove initiated the phone call, actively seeking to get media exposure for Valerie Plame's CIA status. The actual facts of the Times' story call that thesis into doubt. Which is to say the facts challenge the Times' editorial spin for more than a year. So is it possible the Times studied what happened to Dan Rather and decided to emulate the CBS model? There's a word for what's happening to CBS's ratings: narrow-casting. There's another word for small-circulation, highly partisan publications: they're called "newsletters." The Times is far from that status, but as circulation declines it's hard to figure out what they're thinking. Then again, one of the most narcissistic left-wing delusions sees losing as evidence that the majority is corrupt. The losers are "above merely winning" and therefore morally pure. Repeat in unison: McGovern for President. (I know. I was there.) But that's not exactly where the left is these days. The contempt for mainstream cultural values is still the driving force, but they also feel entitled to win. But voters keep saying no (in seven of the past ten presidential elections). Hence the left's across the board rage at everything resembling actual success in contemporary America. The number one topic at Franken's Air America: "We're different from Limbaugh and Fox News." Right. They've got ratings.