"The Tent Grows Smaller Every Day"

So baits the amateurish, story-fabricating TNR, finding it bizarre that the right would turn on Schmidt, Wallace, etc., for turning on our best candidate in 20 years.

Say, Christopher? Speaking of big tent parties, and a healthy right to dissent against a party's standard-bearer, how are Joe Lieberman's committee assignments looking these days?

Stupid asshole.*

This is what happens when a magazine is built on almost nothing but partisan snark. It's just an endless circle-jerk of self-flattery and bloggish digs.

TNR was always kinda like that -- its juvenile style (which I employ as well) was always proto-bloggish.

But they used to try their hand and light wonkery once in the while in the old days.

And once in a while they dared to cross the Democratic establishment with, you know, criticism.

Michael Kinsley ruined both Slate and TNR. You had legions of young, stupid leftists thinking they could get by on Kinsley-esque snark and nothing but that, failing to comprehend

1) they weren't as good at it as he was,

2) within five or six years Kinsley himself was overtaken with reflexive, predictable partisanship and lost the contrarian edge that had made him interesting, rather than merely readable, as well, and

3) Kinsley occasionally dabbled in real policy debates rather than partisan rah-rah.

The Democratic Party has exhibited a very nasty top-down marching-orders strategy for eight years, destroying anyone who dared to dissent (remember the screams of outrage when Charlie Gibson and George Stephanolopolous dared to ask Obama about Bill Ayers -- for the first and last time!), but damn, if they're not all giving each other pats on the back for their enthusiasm for debate and tolerance for contrarian views.

Say, Christopher? Can you tell me the last big vigorous public debate the Democratic Party had on any issue whatsoever?

Seems to me the party line is determined by the leadership, flooded out to the masses through DKos and your own goofy little amateur website, and then ruthlessly enforced.

Yeah, I know... TNR ran a nice piece on the Obama's thuggish embrace of the Teamsters, and his demand that they finally be free of federal supervision to get all mobbed-up again.

I don't remember that getting much traction or notice, however. Except by those on the right.

And I don't recall any follow-ups.

You guys going to fight tooth-and-nail against public union balloting, I guess?

Right.

Big tent.

* I should say he's a very competent movie reviewer, though. Or at least he's on the same page as I am most of the time.

posted by Ace at 04:08 PM

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