…And out come the wolves
Maybe John is wrong and we shouldn’t defend Ezra Klein. Even a former editor of the liberal New Republic thinks Ezra is being too partisan (no link for Lane):
My colleague Chuck Lane accuses me of a “venomous smear” against Joe Lieberman today, which is fair enough. He’s hardly the first to see it that way. What is surprising is that Lane, well, agrees with my venomous smear. “I understand that [Lieberman] seems to bear a grudge against the Democratic liberals who tried to unseat him in 2006 because of his vote for the war in Iraq,” writes Lane, “and that he might be engaged in a little pay back right now.”
Lane is on the Kaplan editorial board.
It’s probably time to start an Ezra Klein Kaplan death watch.
December 14, 2009 6:44 pm
Posted in: Assholes, Good News For Conservatives
42 Comments
42 Responses
Comrade Mary - December 14, 2009 | 6:49 pm · Link
He’s back in the hole where they got him livin’
Like a rat but he’s smarter than that nine lives
Like a cat take him to the youth authority home
First thing you learn is that you got to make it
In this world alone
... not alone for real, I hope.
God damn it, must we always eat our young?
Estragon - December 14, 2009 | 6:52 pm · Link
The liberal New Republic??
Uh, really?
BFR - December 14, 2009 | 6:52 pm · Link
He knew what he was getting into when he signed up to work for WaPo. “Defending” him by sending clicks over Fred Hiatt’s way isn’t going to make Hiatt and the whole enterprise any less corrupt.
freelancer (itouch) - December 14, 2009 | 6:52 pm · Link
Can we just throw Stephen glass in lane’s face?
dmsilev - December 14, 2009 | 6:53 pm · Link
I note with some amusement that Lane is yet to respond (publicly) to Ezra’s counter-attack. Any bets on whether he’ll have the guts to do so, or whether he’ll go the bureaucratic-warfare route?
-dms
General Winfield Stuck - December 14, 2009 | 6:54 pm · Link
It’s probably time to start an Ezra Klein Kaplan death watch.
Maybe we should find out if Susan Sarandon is available to see him through this.
DougJ - December 14, 2009 | 6:56 pm · Link
Maybe we should find out if Susan Sarandon is available to see him through this.
Not a bad way to go.
beltane - December 14, 2009 | 6:58 pm · Link
This must be why Charles Lane won Atrios’s prestigious Wanker of the Day prize. The Washington Post has really been racking those up lately.
AB - December 14, 2009 | 7:00 pm · Link
It’s not like nobody has his back though, TPM has been firing a few volleys at Lieberman too.
Jim - December 14, 2009 | 7:01 pm · Link
Oh yeah, Lane is in high dudgeon wank-mode
Um, yeah, Chuckie. That’s about the size of it. People really do die because they lack health insurance. No one you know, of course. Which is a big part of the problem. And if you think Joe Lieberman is motivated by anything but vindictiveness, you’re a moron.
Lieberman and McCain are exhibits A and B as to why American political journamalism sucks. Whenever their lying eyes contradict what “everyone knows” about Tweedledick and Tweedledouche, the Villagers stick to what everyone knows.
DougJ - December 14, 2009 | 7:01 pm · Link
This must be why Charles Lane won Atrios’s prestigious Wanker of the Day prize.
Believe it or not, that was for something else.
SteveinSC - December 14, 2009 | 7:03 pm · Link
I have had it, again, with LIE-berman (I-Israel.) Fuck this sonofabitch. This asshole doesn’t mind sending American kids to defend Israel in the Middle East (they’re just goyim anyway). I wonder what kind or understanding AIPAC and Rahm Emmanuel and LIEberman have to hobble the “change” we thought we had? Weaken Obama, shoo him into a war in Afghanistan, closer still to Iran, and voila the Neocons get even more than they had with the Decider! Even that flaming asshole Kristol is loving Warrior Obama. Wake up Obama! You are being led down a path you should not tread!
Jim - December 14, 2009 | 7:04 pm · Link
@DougJ:
Looks like he got WOTD for this, though there was a post referring to his call to reduce the minimum wage as a solution to high unemployment. Quite a guy, Chuckie is.
Notorious P.A.T. - December 14, 2009 | 7:06 pm · Link
haha! good one DougJ )
DougJ - December 14, 2009 | 7:06 pm · Link
Looks like he got WOTD for this,
You’re right. Sorry. I found this one separately.
Comrade Mary - December 14, 2009 | 7:07 pm · Link
WOTD?
Annie - December 14, 2009 | 7:09 pm · Link
This is what is sickening. I hate this discourse.
That they can even comment, as if this is some fraternity initiation, that Lieberman may be engaging in a little pay back right now, rather than acting like an adult and a legislator, is beyond belief. His utter failure to negotiate in good faith is the story, not his childish wish to get back at those who did not support him. As said over at TPM, Lieberman is basically mocking the Democratic Party by moving the goal posts, as if this is all a game and real people’s lives are not at stake.
Lieberman should be mocked, marginalized, and held in utter contempt. Maybe we can send him to Gitmo and leave him there even after it is closed. Even that would be to good for him.
Midnight Marauder - December 14, 2009 | 7:12 pm · Link
@Estragon:
From THE LEXICON:
Demo Woman - December 14, 2009 | 7:13 pm · Link
Lieberman has been whining since forever. In fact some folks would think that he has to talk to his partner John before issuing any type of statement. I’m surprised that Hadassah is not jealous.
valdivia - December 14, 2009 | 7:15 pm · Link
Guys do remember also that Chuckie Lane advanced and supported the malicious death panel lie this summer. So it is even funnier to see him accuse Ezra of malicious smearing (something Ezra did not do) when he himself spent a good portion of the last few months doing that about HCR.
Midnight Marauder - December 14, 2009 | 7:17 pm · Link
@AB:
TPM has been doing some yeoman’s work on the entire Lieberman debacle, including this post from them not too long ago:
Lieberman: No Need For Medicare Buy-In Because Baucus Bill Was So Good
However, as the first commenter on the article points out, Lieberman opposed the Baucus health bill when it was finally unveiled.
He’s a regular Makewi, that guy.
John O - December 14, 2009 | 7:17 pm · Link
Beware The Man is a fundamentally sound world view.
Ezra will be fine, WaPo or not. He’s tough and he’s smart, and he knows what he’s talking about.
There will be a place for him, like there is for Elizabeth Warren. Outside of the Corporate Media’s interest.
And it is time to get personal with Holy Joe. I wonder why more terminally ill Americans don’t show up in Washington sometimes, with nothing to lose, and chips on their shoulders…
...I think that’s what I might do.
Estragon - December 14, 2009 | 7:26 pm · Link
@Midnight Marauder: I remember reading once that TNR was a big read in the Reagan White House, scouring the pages for “liberals” who would sell out for them.
Morbo - December 14, 2009 | 7:26 pm · Link
Wolves? Oh no, you’re being far too kind. These people are snakes at best; it may even be charitable to call them vertebrates.
Notorious P.A.T. - December 14, 2009 | 7:29 pm · Link
Wanker Of The Day
John O - December 14, 2009 | 7:34 pm · Link
Joe is WOTY.
And that’s no small accomplishment.
There should also be some lifetime achievement awards for WOTD.
That way you could move on to new wankers of spectacular achievement.
DougJ - December 14, 2009 | 7:35 pm · Link
Wolves? Oh no, you’re being far too kind. These people are snakes at best; it may even be charitable to call them vertebrates.
It’s a reference to a Rancid album title.
They don’t get enough credit.
Midnight Marauder - December 14, 2009 | 7:36 pm · Link
@Estragon:
Yep. That sounds about right.
Malron - December 14, 2009 | 7:41 pm · Link
I find it fascinating that the left isn’t trying to defend a good blogger.
Not really.
Kryptik - December 14, 2009 | 7:44 pm · Link
It’s taken you this long to consider it?
I’ve long been sounding the alarm bells on Ezra’s, Eugene Robinson’s, and Dionne’s tenures at the Post. I’m just waiting for when they find the right excuse other than the thin ‘Too blatantly partisan for our paper’ one they’re probably working on.
geg6 - December 14, 2009 | 7:51 pm · Link
I honestly think it was a huge mistake for Ezra to go to the WaPo and said so at the time. I even sent him an email emploring him to re-think the matter. So should they decide to dump him, I really think that would only add to his reputation for me. I have always loved Ezra’s work, but I simply won’t give the Kaplan rag any clicks ever again, not even for Ezra. In fact, especially for Ezra. I want him back working for a reputable organization. And I want the WaPo to die. Both things will improve our policy and political commentary.
DougJ - December 14, 2009 | 7:52 pm · Link
It’s taken you this long to consider it?
No, not at all. I just think it’s time to make it official.
DougJ - December 14, 2009 | 7:56 pm · Link
I honestly think it was a huge mistake for Ezra to go to the WaPo and said so at the time. I even sent him an email emploring him to re-think the matter. So should they decide to dump him, I really think that would only add to his reputation for me.
I think it’s tricky. If he keeps letting it rip and gets fired, I think he’s really accomplished something. If he tones it down to make Fred Hiatt happy, then you’re completely right.
RD - December 14, 2009 | 7:57 pm · Link
The whole thing smells like the Fernholz v. Taibbi shit over at the American Prospect. (Taibbi handily won, BTW. Even Reuters jumped in and fact-checked Fornholz’s pearl clutching.)
I think it is a little surprising to see this kind of polemic device from Ezra Klein, though. His style seems much more methodical and logical, peppered with snark.
Either way, watching Klein afflicting the comfortable and then watching the comfortable and their apparent lackeys shit their pants should be something we all celebrate and defend.
Klein’s argument was not an attempt to make a well sourced and solidly logical statement about Sen. Joe Lieberman [Bag of Syphilitic Dicks – Connecticut]. Obviously, Klein’s invective – taken literally – seems to fall under the cause/correlation fallacy. But so what? I don’t think it was necessarily the point of the observation. Klein was noting that a supposedly rational adult and sitting United States Senator is using his totally unearned leverage to settle petty political scores against members of the caucus he belongs to and is willing to prolong the suffering and death experienced by real human beings under a broken health care system to do so.
Napoleon - December 14, 2009 | 8:01 pm · Link
Ezra is going to be on Olberman.
DougJ - December 14, 2009 | 8:03 pm · Link
The whole thing smells like the Fernholz v. Taibbi shit over at the American Prospect. (Taibbi handily won, BTW. Even Reuters jumped in and fact-checked Fornholz’s pearl clutching.)
I’m not so sure. I thought Fernholz made some good points and I think it took some guts for him to take on Taibbi in front of a mostly liberal audience. I’m not saying his overall take is right, but I respect what he wrote.
John O - December 14, 2009 | 8:11 pm · Link
@RD:
I saw Ezra get irritated with a moron at a DKos panel, and within the same half-hour or so spoke to him personally about someone hassling him on his blog at the time, and trust me, he writes politely, but underneath lies the heart of a blogger.
He’s too young to draw any definite conclusions, there but for the grace of God and intellectual laziness go most of us, but I think his heart is in the right place.
Just a personal take. The first time I met him all I said was, “Thank you, I really enjoy your work,” and he was most gracious and normal.
Thlayli - December 14, 2009 | 8:26 pm · Link
Black coat
White shoes
Black hat
Cadillac
The boy’s a time bomb….
Bobby Thomson - December 14, 2009 | 8:45 pm · Link
@RD:
Not really. The post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy occurs when pretty much the only causal argument is that B follows A, therefore A causes B. There are reasons other than timing to believe that a lack of insurance (or underinsurance) is the proximate cause of a statistically significant number of deaths. Maybe underlying poverty would also cause some deaths, too, but when people are going to work with walking pneumonia because they can’t afford an office visit, it’s hard to deny causation.
calipygian - December 14, 2009 | 8:48 pm · Link
@Thlayli: That was really obscure and roundabout, but I like it.
DougJ - December 14, 2009 | 9:04 pm · Link
That was really obscure and roundabout, but I like it.
And a good song.
Elie - December 14, 2009 | 9:56 pm · Link
@John O:
???
“I wonder why more terminally ill Americans don’t show up in Washington sometimes, with nothing to lose, and chips on their shoulders…
...I think that’s what I might do.”
Hey pardner…??? Not to invade your privacy…