My Newfound Respect For Ezra Klein

Mickey Kaus gets behind the Journolist curtain and reveals the left's Best and Brightest at what we can only hope is neither their best nor brightest.  I applaud Journolist founder Ezra Klein, who can't be getting paid enough to read this bilge.  Especially amusing are the call-outs to Ezra from other posters imploring him to stop their mutual descent into juvenile snark.  Too late!

Let's cut right to the lowlights:

But I agree with Jon that the tendency to lapse into name-calling, or making broad assumptions about people who aren't on this list, seems at minimum like it's not the best use of our time, and at worst, unworthy of this very smart, very funny community.  It bothered me when folks where making totally unsubstantiated comments about [REDACTED!--mk]'s sex life, and it bothers me when folks make [REDACTED] jokes.  To be clear, I'm totally open to legitimate commentary on the substance of anyone's argument, and people should get smacked down if they lie, if they get things wrong, etc.  I think analyzing Peretz's writing about Mexicans, or Palestinians, or whoever, is totally fair game.  But saying that [REDACTED] clearly must not have a girlfriend, or speculating about who [REDACTED] gets turned down by sexually are not arguments.  We wouldn't take similar statements remotely seriously if they were made by conservatives about anyone on this list.

Somebody clearly does not have a girlfriend?  Geez, does that mean he needs to, uhh, find some other way to relax, or do are we getting a whiff of homophobia on the Journolist?  We already have been alerted to the presence of anti-semites there.

Well, the list clearly provides the kind of rollicking, no-holds-barred (and off the record!) debate that will get this country back on track.

Projected pushback - we don't always sound like whining a**-h**** with too much free time.  That'll work!

WHY THEY SECRETLY THANK MICKEY KAUS: The only thing a paranoid lefty loves better than being in a secret, exclusive group is being in an oppressed exclusive group.  Catnip!  Ahh, for the Bush days when they could whisper about being wiretapped.

SINCE YOU ASKED, WE CAN SERIOUS UP:

The Journolist pablum-toss centered around this passage from Marty Peretz, which is denounced as "crazy-ass racist":

Well, I am extremely pessimistic about Mexican-American relations, not because the U.S. had done anything specifically wrong to our southern neighbor but because a (now not quite so) wealthy country has as its abutter a Latin society with all of its characteristic deficiencies:  congenital corruption, authoritarian government, anarchic politics, near-tropical work habits, stifling social mores, Catholic dogma with the usual unacknowledged compromises, an anarchic counter-culture and increasingly violent modes of conflict.  Then, there is the Mexican diaspora in America, hard-working and patriotic but mired in its untold numbers of illegals, about whom no one can talk with candor.

The obvious rebuttal - he is describing cultural, not racial, chracteristics - gets a dismissive mention.

Amanda Marcotte, who clearly is fully qualified to be a Journolister, develops the point.  What's fun is that she is so committed to her "He's a racist!" argument that she gets stuck writing stuff like this:

I’m unsure how Peretz manages to work in both stereotypes about how Mexicans are relentlessly hard-working with stereotypes about how they’re lazy and addicted to siestas, but the ways of blatant racists (and their ability to hold contradictory stereotypes in their heads) will always be a mystery.

Its inexplicable if Peretz is describing race, obvious if he is describing culture.  Since, like many lefties, Ms. Marcote apparently needs to think that those with whom she disagrees are racist (or sexist, or some other -ist, like homophobic-ist), Mr. Peretz's views will remain unfathomable to her.  And even better, since he is a deplorable something or other -ist, she does not need to engage any of his arguments ever.  It's the same game Barney Frank played with Scalia.  So much easier to shut down debate than have it out, yes?

[end of thread]

Comments

[bad]

I love Steyn for a number of reasons, including his habit of putting out...great stuff when everyone else has folded for the night or packed it in for the weekend.

[Porchlight]

clarice, I thank God every day for people like Steyn in times like this. How he maintains that steady good humor I'll never know.

[clarice]

He sure is non stop prolific, isn't he? And boy a good laugh is something we allneed these days..I mesan with Hit and his chainsaws and Chaco and that crazy BaiLing..it's just one worry after another.

[PD]

By "leave" I mean "visit another site". Temporarily. Try it some time.

You're assuming that we don't. Or that we're not able to multiplex.

Am I misinterpreting again? I admit you sound like you're advising us for our own good.

[Jim Ryan]

Favorite Steyn line was years ago when he opined that bin Laden was "pushing up daisy cutters."

[bad]

How do you suppose some of the population felt yesterday when Obama said we don't want the outsourced jobs back?

He better hope that remark doesn't get wide coverage' cause the lady who asked the question acted as if Obama WAS going to to bring them back, the only question was when.

This may be like the "paying the mortgage and putting gas in my car" expectations.

[Ann]

I love Steyn for a number of reasons, including his habit of putting out...

You keeping something from us bad. :)

Here I thought your comment about his come hither look was just an innocent observation.

(One I absolutely agree with by the way.)

[bad]

Hey Ann, I'll never tell.

[PD]

How do you suppose some of the population felt yesterday when Obama said we don't want the outsourced jobs back?

An odd remark in economic times where one might think that it could be better to have a job that didn't pay a zillion bucks a year, than no job at all.

I thought he was supposed to understand how ordinary citizens look at things. This kind of remark, coupled with his riff where he told us what we really care about, because, you know, we don't know without being told, give him his well deserved reputation for having a tin ear.

[bad]

And why TOTUS is his friend, PD.

[bad]

Tapper:

President Barack Obama announces a new comprehensive new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Friday, March 27, 2009, in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus in Washington.

"That is the goal that must be achieved. That is a cause that could not be more just. And to the terrorists who oppose us, my message is the same: we will defeat you," Obama said.

Stirring rhetoric for a quitter that could bite him in the ass if he caves.

And remember, IT. COULD. NOT. BE. MORE. JUST.

LUN

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Is this the one? I see it has Ric Young, Mr. Botox Torture guy on Alias that Sydney put in a wheelchair.

Yup, that's the one. It's really sort of based on or suggested by, rather than really being Journey to the West, but lots of fun anyway.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

At some point, The Economist, Messrs Brooks, Buckley & Co are going to have to acknowledge this.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Ah, I knew that crack would have interpretive problems. By "leave" I mean "visit another site". Temporarily. Try it some time.

But it's so nice and warm here.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

You keeping something from us bad. :)

Thank you. If you hadn't done it, I was gonna have to.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Mu

Dammit, I *know* I typed "wanna bet?" after that.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Bloody hell.

[bad]

Politico reports on an Obama interview with CBS taped Friday evening to air Sunday Morning on Face the Nation: LUN

"This is going to be hard," the president said. "I am under no illusions, if it was easy it would already have been completed and so we're going to have to go with a strategy that is focused, that is narrowly targeted on defeating al-Qaida."

Earlier in the day linked above and reported by Tapper:

The president announced that he's sending 4,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan, outlined benchmarks to measure progress and detailed new diplomatic efforts and more civilian aid to further development efforts in both Pakistan and Afghanistan.

In outlining his administration's new strategy for the region, Obama said that for six years Afghanistan has been "denied the resources that it demands" because of the focus on the war in Iraq.

"To focus on the greatest threat to our people, America must no longer deny resources to Afghanistan because of the war in Iraq. To enhance the military, governance and economic capacity of Afghanistan and Pakistan, we have to marshal international support. And to defeat an enemy that heeds no borders or laws of war, we must recognize the fundamental connection between the future of Afghanistan and Pakistan," Obama said.

That's a lot of "comprehensive," yet "focused" and "narrowly targeted" strategery.

And by the way, it's hard, not easy.

And Bush was bad...

[sbw]

Porch, I have been away hosting a concert of Yale a capella singers and missed a worthwhile discussion on the last thread and thought it worth bumping.

Persistence-->Virtue and Character

Am I way off?

Porch, Virtue is the result of solid processes that lead to character.

Persistence is one virtue that comes from understanding what is important and why.

Virtues ought not be taught, because they are the answers one arrives at when one's processes of thought are critically examined.

Teaching virtues is like teaching numbers instead of teaching arithmetic. "Three is a good number; learn three and we expect you to be on your way to becoming a math wiz."

Sounds silly, doesn't it? It is silly.

But when you master logic, logic masters you. It becomes compelling. I'll save that for the next lecture.

Back in the morning. 'Night all!

[bad]

Powerline and Ann Althouse have a lovely takedown of Harry Reid complete with a photoshop of Harry and Nancy from the comments at Althouse. Bonus Barney Frank dis.

LUN

[bad]

Sweet Dreams sbw

[bgates]

Stirring rhetoric for a quitter that could bite him in the ass if he caves.

As I have always said, our goal is not to achieve a hollow military victory over a poor, hungry band in a tiny country on the other side of the world. Much less do we desire to defeat Afghanistan, whose citizens our military has been wantonly murdering for over a decade. Our quarrel is only with Osama Bin Laden, whose trail regrettably went cold during the Bush administration. I am confident I could inspire our intelligence services to work smarter and catch Bin Laden, but years of Bush-era propaganda have irrevocably tainted the jury pool, rendering the possibility of a conviction that could withstand appeal almost nil. We must seek security another way.

Many of you do not remember the dangerous conditions of the 80s, when Reagan threatened the world with mutually assured destruction: a warning that Washington was prepared at any moment to unleash a nuclear holocaust on the peace-loving people of Eastern Europe and the Russian Motherland even knowing such an action would likely provoke a tragic though understandable reaction in kind. This doctrine, and its terribly accurate acronym MAD, ends now.

Today I announce the doctrine of Mutually Assured Construction. As the father of the MAC, or Mac Daddy, I will demonstrate the benefits of peace to the nations of the world in literally concrete terms. Specifically, I have instructed my Cabinet to identify shovel-ready projects around the globe so that American stimulus money can lead the world out of the financial crisis we all inherited from the Bush administration.

This will be a completely nonpartisan program. Republicans demand expansion of nuclear energy; I have dispatched my Secretary of State to learn how we can be of use in the enormous plant under development at Isfahan. If the Iranian and other governments are agreeable, good, American, union jobs will be supplying concrete and other raw materials to plants from Isfahan to Pyongyang to Cairo within 8 months.

As always, my primary concern is for the American taxpayer. To ensure the money spent in this program has the maximum economic impact, free of petty domestic political considerations, a council consisting of myself, representatives from the EU, the UN General Assembly, and the OIC will decide on the projects we want to ask the Chinese to loan the US money to pay for. I can confidently predict that the decisions made by this body will spur economic growth in excess of 6% for the next five years, well into my second term.

And that's even taking the critics' view that there will be no economic benefit to the new Bernadette Dohrn Memorial Five-Sided Center for Social Justice in Arlington.

[bad]

bgates you are amazing!! ♥

But frightening... LOL

[RichatUF]

bad-

Obama is giving himself wiggle room to bailout at the end of the year. The rats nest that makes up State and CIA will declare "al-Qeada" defeated and the US will come home. And not too soon I might add as Pakistan devolves into a more militant Sunni version Islamic theocracy.
-----
I should have just stopped and read bgates though.

[RichatUF]

And to the terrorists who oppose us, my message is the same: we will defeat you

Didn't Bush say something similiar which sent the left into fits? Also, how is that there are terrorists in the world when there are only man caused disasters and overseas contingency operations. Wouldn't the proper term for the Obama Administration be a disasterist?

[bad]

WSJ: LUN

Perhaps the best news in yesterday's speech is that Mr. Obama has now taken ownership of this war. One lesson he can learn from Iraq is that -- as hard as the fighting may get and as vociferous as the opposition at home may become -- Mr. Obama now has an obligation to stay the course until our soldiers can return home in victory and with honor.

Bush did it.

[bad]

Rich, don't harsh my mellow, dude...

[RichatUF]

bad-

I see that the WSJ editorial board is delusional. Obama isn't going to take ownership of anything and is probably looking at ways to wreck the effort. Supporting an Islamist revolution in Pakistan (generously funded by the magic kingdom) would be my guess.

[RichatUF]

Rich, don't harsh my mellow, dude...

Sorry. I should try and cheer the place up...

Maybe PM Brown will pull a prank on Zero and goof the teleprompter. Maybe have Obama say "I am a teapot".

[PD]

"This is going to be hard," the president said. "I am under no illusions, if it was easy it would already have been completed

I snipped that out of context of his remarks on Afghanistan to look at it in all its glory.

But it seems less glorious when, seen standing there all alone, I realize, he says this about *everything*:

Afghanistan.
The economy.
The housing market.
Banking.
Health care.
Finding good arugula.

Sheesh. Mr. President, do you really think we're such dolts that we don't realize the country faces significant problems with a high intractability coefficient?

Or is it, Mr. President, that now you are in office, you've woken up to the fact that it's a lot harder to govern than to make speeches on the campaign trail.

Or is it that you're leaving wiggle room in case you make a mess of things?

[RichatUF]

Now that Obama got the Afghanistan stuff out of the way, he can focus on what's important.

Slavery Reparations for African Americans.

It should poll well.

[PD]

Does that reparations bill include consideration of the "ticket back to Africa" option?

[bad]

Do any of Conyers' bills ever get anywhere?

[bgates]

Reparations? Great. I'll start the ball rolling here in Orlando. I have one stamp; should I mail the check to Dwight Howard or Tiger Woods?

Wouldn't the proper term for the Obama Administration be a disasterist?

I think so. But what would they call terrorists?

[Jane]

I do realize that the concept of leaving JOM may be a bit difficult to grasp for many of you.

ML,

I think I got it in the way that you intended, and I thought it was funny!

[clarice]

bgates--a work of utter genius! Braco.

[Peg C.]

Kaus's exerpts gave me flashbacks of high school. Extremely unpleasant. What snotty doofuses these Journolistas are. Klein did us all a service by exposing the narcissistic, empty-headed statists on his side of the bi-polar country.

[narciso]

Yes, Bad, frightening and the non satirical part is the way this is probably the way he really thinks about this. I shouldn't be so cynical, at this point, wait ten years right. but everything leads in that direction.

[clarice]

**BraVo***

[MayBee]

I agree with Jane about ML.

Also, ML, none of us are happy with the pagination system here. I don't think Tom Maguire is either.

[Donald]

Little late here, but I can pass up my Nordic Supermodel obsession with a little Bai Ling. I can help that girl.

[Strawman Cometh]

Ezra Klein still eats his boogers.

[Danube of Thought]

I hadda leave the site for a few minutes to do some Google, Google Images and Google Video on Bai Ling, who had heretofore escaped my attention.

Well...

[Letalis Maximus, Esq.]

Cute *and* bat-shit crazy.

Those are the most dangerous ones.

[Porchlight]

Thanks, sbw, for your commment on the virtue/character discussion. I've bookmarked that thread to peruse again tonight.

I thought ML's comment about leaving JOM was funny, too. And true, in my case anyway. ;)

[bad]

ML wants us to be homeless...waaaaaaaaaaaaa

[anonymous]

They talk all day about all their populist garbage, but manage to find a million ways to exclude the "little" people, whom they find too unimportant to join their (apparently highbrow) discussions. If they cared about poor people, they would have Huffington and friends part with their millions, and stop maintaining discussion that are apparently only good enough for the "compassionate" to join.

[Fen]

"Ms. Marcote apparently needs to think that those with whom she disagrees are racist... since he is a deplorable something or other -ist, she does not need to engage any of his arguments ever."

Even worse. Marcote, on her own blog, degrades her white "toothless redneck" neighbor who voted for Bush. Just as bigoted as if she had used "spic" or "nigger". So she must have a huge blindspot. And she lectures us on tolerance? Ha.

[SDN]

"Its inexplicable if Peretz is describing race, obvious if he is describing culture. Since, like many lefties, Ms. Marcote apparently needs to think that those with whom she disagrees are racist (or sexist, or some other -ist, like homophobic-ist), Mr. Peretz's views will remain unfathomable to her."

No, this is exactly what Jeff Goldstein is talking about over at Protein Wisdom. Standard Lefty tactic: take what you said with one intent, and redefine the intent into something you can be whacked with. The only answer is to call these people the liars they are.... as rudely as necessary.

[Frew]

Interesting that they are bringing up Betsy McCaughey's article in TNR after all these years. She won a raft of journalism awards for outing the totalitarianism of Hillary's health care plan in that article. Apparently some of the JListers still revile her for telling the people the truth about that plan.

[jack]

at what we can only hope is neither their best nor brightest.

There are several comments, within the thread, which suggest that that the level of discourse apparent is indicative of the list's culture. A few of the members allude the frequency with which this sort of mobbing behavior is evident. And the 'junior high' criticism is applied to the list broadly - not simply the attack on Peretz.

-----

What I found more interesting was Chait's treatment of DeLong, and the fact that no one else would respond to him.

DeLong attempts to bait the list with his comment - "I know how to fix that".

To which Chait responds..
Yes, your posts have more of a prison quality to them.

Then, in a follow-up, DeLong brags about his service in the Clinton administration and demands that TNR humiliate itself for whatever crimes it has committed.

Again no one responds, Alterman simply goes on preening.

I'd love to know what DeLong has posted to warrant this sort of treatment.

He's among the minority of members of Journolist that have actual policy expertise - the sort of expertise that Klein highlights when describing the membership.

But it doesn't seem that they have much respect for him, nor do they wish to engage him. He may have a history of harassing the members, or simply of embarrassing himself.

DeLong has always been a mystery to me. He has a decent reputation as an economist, but it's not apparent how he has earned this.

[Paul]

Peretz actually seems more like a rather stupid and simple-minded anti-Catholic than a racist, but that isn't an officially approved socially unacceptable predjudice...

[Daddy]

"Bai Ling is bat shit crazy"

What, pray tell, is a Bai Ling?

Bai Ling (白玲) is a Chinese actress and singer, born in Sichuan.

For those with plenty of spare time on their hands, this goofy book, Foreign">http://www.amazon.com/Foreign-Babes-Beijing-Behind-Scenes/dp/0393328597/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1238268291&sr=8-1">Foreign Babes in Beijing is the nutty bio of a Western Gal who 2 weeks after arriving in Beijing got picked out of nowhere to be the lead evil western vamp for 2 years in a hugely popular Chinese Soap Opera. Not great literature, nor a must read, but since I enjoy almost anything that gives me a new window on the Chinese, I found it fun.

[Thomas Riehle]

While some of them are whippersnappers, the marquee names on Journolist are people in their 50s. For God's sake.

[Porchlight]

You've definitely picked up on something, jack. I cringed when I read DeLong bragging about his Clinton era experience, too. And he and Chait seemed to be tangling not for the first time.

My brother reads all of those guys pretty closely; I'll ask him what his take is.

[doyne dawson]

The dimwitted Amanda Marcotte does not even know how to read. She never noticed that Peretz is talking about two different groups: traditional Mexican, and Latin American, society is said to have 'near-tropical work habits', while Mexican-Americans are said to be 'hard working' -- clearly to distinguish them from real Mexicans.

[Chester White]

"...unworthy of this very smart, very funny community."

It has long been my experience that when a member of a group makes a judgment about that same group, he is almost always wrong.

These people may be many things, but they sure ain't funny. And smart is pushing it.

They sound like a bunch of 13-year old girls.

[JB]

It's nothing but a giant leftist circle-jerk and they each take turns eating the cracker.

What a bunch of complete and total losers.