OMG LIBERAL JOURNALISTS COLLUDED! THOUGHT LIBERAL THOUGHTS!: This is this the dumbest Journolist scandal yet. Breitbart really thinks Spencer Ackerman is going to get fired over this? From freaking Wired? Ridiculous. Dismaying to see Matt Welch continue to have his buddy's back in this sort of sluggery.
EDIT: Because Matt didn't mention Breitbart in his piece I am being unfair in that last line. Apologies!
1 month ago
6 comments:
Urging fellow journalists to accuse random non-Ross Douthat Republicans of being racist = thinking "liberal thoughts"? I did not know that.
And I'm not sure how my post amounts to getting anyone's "back," but whatever.
Fred Barnes and Karl Rove are random non-Douhats? They're clearly a single type of Republican (the most loathsome type.) And Spencer's clearly arguing for answering one non-scandal with another non-scandal. A tit for tat if you will. Arguing that--again--in a private e-mail. As Eli Lake tweeted, "We would never know @attackerman or @chrislhayes thought these things w/out journolst leak. Unless, ofcourse, we read their work at the time"
But you're right, you don't even mention Breitbart. Sorry! I got flustered by his way-premature tweet of victory (http://twitter.com/AndrewBreitbart/status/18954545377) about Spencer having to find a new job, and conflated that with your previous mentions of your friendship with him.
Fred Barnes and Karl Rove may each be loathsome in their own special ways, but is there any track record to indicate that they are racists? We're talking about one of the most toxic accusations possible in American life, and Attackerman's giving a big "who cares" when it comes to determining which of the apparently limitless number of Republicans his group can pin that scarlett letter on.
That is not "tit for tat," that is not "liberal" (at least by my definition), and that is certainly not remotely close to journalism. Much closer to its opposite.
As for Eli Lake's comment, I guess I just don't read the Attackermonster closely enough to realize he's willing to so carelessly play pin-the-racism-on-the-Republican. His pathetic attempts at bravado about smashing various people's faces in (including, charmingly enough, in front of their toddlers) are well known, but this smear-job stuff was new to me. Live and learn, I guess.
Spencer came up with this in the midst of a coordinated attack to portray Barack Obama as a racist! He's throwing out ideas on a private e-mail list! I mean if I believe he really wants to throw the racism tag around willy-nilly (which he doesn't do) I also have to believe Dave Weigel really wants Drudge to die in a fire. And I don't believe that.
"Pathetic attempts at bravado"? Awwww...too harsh. The dude just likes a little punk music...
Funny; I've liked punk music for longer than Spencer has been alive. And yet somehow I've managed not to write (publicly, mind you) about skull-fucking my boss and assaulting reporters I don't like in front of their toddlers. Maybe I'm not hardcore enough to appreciate the cred of typing playground insults on the Interwebs.
I cannot dream up a defensible context for someone with pretensions of being a journalist (or a human being, really) encouraging commentators to indiscriminately smear political opponents as racists.
Okay but: I don't think you needed Journo-list to dislike Spencer. Which--again--is why this is a non-story in a series of Journo-list non-stories.
Wired, I notice, is standing by their man. Breitbarts tweet in vain.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0710/39974.html
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