I have a voice

One of the things that really bothers me in political discourse is this type of thing.  This excerpt is from a TAC article by Florence King.

Everybody knows who Joan Walsh is. To liberals she’s a saint, and they just might have a point: her TV guest spots have established her as Joan of Fallen Archness. Editor-at-Large of Salon, she regularly turns up on the People’s Republic of MSNBC, wearing her trademark simper and oozing coyness, and obsequiously recites, “Yes, Reverend Al” to the honkyphobic views of Al Sharpton.

Why are attacks on the person so universally accepted?  Isn’t this type of thing usually reserved for the paparazzi?  The person’s ideology should be at issue, not their personality.  When an article starts out like this, I stop reading.  This type of political “reporting” is catty, bitchy, low-brow and pointless.  It’s sole purpose seems to be to attract other low-brow and petty people’s acknowledgement.  Picture me wincing.