If Nominated I Will Run... For Cover

The short, happy life of Ben Domench as a WaPo blogger has ended, although he continues to have wonderful prospects as a future president of Russia.  Glenn Reynolds and Joe Gandelman have more than enough coverage.

But enough about the past!  Glenn Reynolds floats a Jeff Goldstein balloon and both Max Sawicky and Brad DeLong offer kind words in suggesting that yours truly would be the conservative blogger the Post is seeking.  However... I think the WaPo might need a bit more clarity in their strategy those idea would work.  This came from Howard Kurtz:

Jim Brady, executive editor of Washingtonpost.com, said Domenech was hired because "we were completely unrepresented by a social conservative voice."

If they really are looking for a social conservative, that should prick the inspired Jeff Goldstein boomlet and scuttle me as well.

However, it is a delightful thought, and thanks.

Comments

[kim]

They don't know what they want.
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[windansea]

you and Jeff G would be great...the twin pillars of rapier wit conservatism and baloney skewering prowess

[topsecretk9]

If they really are looking for a social conservative, that should prick the inspired Jeff Goldstein boomlet and scuttle me as well.

I was thinking JeffG's more colorful archives might give the WAPO the skivvies, and wondered if your in depth look at WAPO's more colorful writers would give them a moment of pause --to steal a phrase

Kim is right -They don't know what they want.

I'll add, they don't know what they're missing.

[topsecretk9]

Wind

I thougt a JG and TM tag team would be great, 2 styles that really compliment each other. It would be a smart and South Parky style.

[Rick Ballard]

We could just leave it at they don't know and cover the waterfront.

Why someone would want a job in the Copperhead press is a question the answer to which continues to be elusive. Certainly, a social conservative would improve the quality of the WaPo product but who needs better sewage?

[clarice]

What the Post needs first is someone to explain to them the difference between the various components of the conservative movement. (Reminds me of those who talk about the position of the neocons on abortion, for example. HUH?)

[windansea]

Top

yep...humor and sharp shiny knives a blazin

[Sue]

Who gives a rip what the Post needs. We need Tom right here keeping us in line.

[Sue]

Unless of course, the gig paid well and Tom wanted to do it. Then I would give a rip what the WaPo wanted.

[noah]

I can't think of a blogger that would qualify under 'social conservative'...I guess I read the wrong 'conservative' blogs...red-meat stuff is not to my taste.

John Hinderaker might barely qualify...certainly his sympathies lie with the entire conservative movement so to speak, but why would he or indeed anyone bother as Rick points out?

[SteveMG]

Hell, forget about a conservative blogger for the Post.

How about some conservative reporters in the newsroom?

Or at least someone who knows that William F. Buckley ain't a neoconservative (I know, different paper but betcha' dollars to NY Times corrections that few in the Post newsroom know the difference between Irving Kristol and Irving Berlin).

SMG

[maryrose]

TM:
You have much to offer;a basic sense of fair play that is missing so much today in our print press. A job-share with Jeff Goldstein would still enable you to be our fearless leader at JOM. I support you in any decision you make, because you do such a fine job here.

[Gary Maxwell]

Get out your asbestos underwear Tom if they come calling. You will be called everything but a white man. The JayDee name calling blitzes will be recalled with great fondness due to its ( realitively )light and friendlu air compared to what would gush out at ya!

[Jeff]

I third Sawicky's and Delong's thought - in fact, I claim I had it independently, after atrios gave some thought to the issue of who could fill the slot and came up with an empty set of thoughtful conservative bloggers; my set is one away from empty. However, I think you have been far too critical of the Post - and too often on target - to get the job. Too bad for them and for us.

[JM Hanes]

Besides, you'll be too busy with your book on Plamegate. If you don't end up telling this story, who will? I have a feeling that even if the case does go to trial, Judge Walton won't let it turn into the kind of circus I'd really like to see & hear. Just imagine yourself actually interviewing the dramatis personnae!

If they're looking for a social conservative worth listening to, they should give Ed Morrisey over at Captain's Quarters a call, don't you think? I'm not familiar with Domenech's perspective, but from the coverage it sounds like his rhetoric might not have been exactly mature either, so I have to wonder if the Post wasn't actually looking for someone to stir up a little controversy -- and just didn't get the kind of brouhaha they had in mind.

[richard mcenroe]

What, they can't get Ann Coulter's column? After all, we're told over and over again that she's a spokeswoman for the right, so she ought to be just what they need.

[Anonymous Liberal]

I think you would be ideal for the Post job, Tom. I noticed that a few people (including myself) suggested that you would be a good choice in a thread over at Tapped.

[Geek, Esq.]

I've been pushing Bainbridge and Patterico. If Kevin Drum can write for the Washington Monthly, those guys can write for the Washington Post.

[kim]

Cecil Hunter
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[JJ]

All this evades the point though, doesn't it?

For blogging to be blogging, it has got to remain unattached.

This speculation of who'd be a good conservative blogger at the Post is comparable to those who mess up the greatness of an incredible college basketball player by nitpicking him to death over how well he'd do in the NBA.

(Although the comparison breaks down, at least for me, because I don't consider some of these papers to be in the NBA of journalism.)

When I open a paper -- cellulose or virtual -- I look at reporting, news analysis, and editorials. Blogging is just news analysis, and for me it's usually been better and more thorough than what the newspapers offer.

But more to the point, if you really want to see the actual newspaper blogs -- as they disguise themselves now -- turn to the editorial page. How much of more of a wild-haired daily blog can you get than the NYT editorial writers' left-page contributions, for example?

Therefore if the Post wants to hire a blogger, let them hire a conservative editor instead to balance their editorial page.

Of course, they'd want to keep their high journalistic standards of impartiality. Which means that they would have to try and find a definition for the word conservative that they can actually live with first.

[kim]

A job indescribable.
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[kim]

Good God, CT, Turner, not Hunter. No wonder that post looked odd every time I looked at it.
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[Sue]

Cecil Hunter could be his pseudonym. You would need some kind of cover if you were to venture into the land of WaPo blogging. Before the plagarism was discovered, I ventured over there just to have a look see...scared the &*^% out of me. People are psycho...anonymity would not be a bad idea.

[kim]

In the era of Able Danger, privacy may become a very precious commodity. The Dems are truly on the ropes, but that once magnificent medulla still has a blood supply.
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[kim]

C'mon, rflanagan, snap out of it. You've got a couple more rounds in you. Don't give me that 'No Mas' caca.
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