I have explained repeatedly on FR about my method of dividing Leftists into three groups:
The Good Hearted Liberals ( generally normal people who mean well, but are mis/malinformed, but you can talk to them)
The True Believers (The spittle-lipped useful idiot cannon-fodder of the Left, the Code Pinkos and such...you avoid these people)
Lastly, the Power Leftists, who know that all the crap about social justice and oppressed minorities are just tools for them, they don’t believe any of that liberal claptrap. They know it is all about power. Those are people like Soros, Obama, Clinton, et al.
The author of this piece is one of the spittle-lipped True Believers.
I posit that the confused aren't allowed anywhere near WAPO, NYT, CNN, et al (other than to fetch coffee and provide some free tail).
Rather, the deluded are kept confined to campuses, protests, and other cannon fodder venues. That's why, while we may disagree with articles published at the MSM flagship banners, we need to keep apprised of their actions.
It's the mindless rantings of small blogs, regional papers and college newspapers that don't provide any real insight, other than, as you say, to learn where to stay away.