Liberal paper gives pride of place to illiberal voices (again)

Sorry, everything's about the dear old Guardian (the paper we hate to love) today. The government's change of direction on cuddling up to 'moderate' Islamists, led by Hazel Blears, has attracted plaudits from anti-totalitarian democrats and progressives. 

So how did our leading liberal broadsheet choose to cover the news? With a double-page spread (you only get the lead story online) topped with this headline: 'Standoff with Muslim body overshadows new anti-terror launch', followed by 'analysis' by (who else?) Madeleine Bunting headed 'The government may be the only loser in this dispute', a photo captioned 'Hazel Blears's stance over the MCB is seen by some as grandstanding...' (by whom exactly?), and a selection of 'community voices' which includes those well-known voices of reason and moderation Salma Yaqoob of Respect and Ibrahim Hewitt of Hamas-linked charity Interpal. 

In other words, the Guardian thinks the story isn't the government's long overdue move to severe links with dodgy religious spokesmen, but the 'reaction' to it - and then, only the reaction of the excluded extremists and their apologists.

Fair and balanced?