For those of you who hate the New Republic as much as I do,
here's a gratifying new aspect of their website. Jonathan Chait, previously remarkable as the man who can't seem to deal with the fact that everyone thinks he's an idiot, now has an entire blog devoted to bashing Howard Dean.
From the tone of the blog's introduction, it seems like Chait is under the impression that this is all just a big joke, kind of like his earlier meditations on Bush Hatred.
Bush is like the next-door neighbor who lets his dog poop on your lawn and his kid shoot bb's at your house and who says something irritating to you every day on his way to work. Dean, on the other hand, is like the ne'er-do-well who's dating your daughter. You realize the neighbor is a worse person than the boyfriend, but the boyfriend (and the frightening prospect that he'll become your son-in-law) consumes more of your attention.
It should be obvious to Chait that he is writing RNC talking points, but satisfying his own desire to work out his hatred of Dean in public is, of course, more important than winning the next election. I guess he can afford grand games like this because he does not have terribly much riding on the next election. Judging from his malleability to the institutional biases of the New Republic, he won't be losing his job anytime soon.
And, for Chait, it is of course necessary to begin this grand project of Dean bashing at the moment it becomes clear that Dean's nomination is inevitable. The only purpose of Chait's project to damage Dean is therefore to help Bush. Let's talk about the end of modern liberalism, shall we, Jonathan?
Chait wrote an article this summer entitled "Wesley Clark: Democratic Messiah." The sheer bombasity of that headline is so ridiculous now that Clark's campaign has nosedived and the obviousness of his inadequacy as a leader of the Democratic Party is clear, it must be difficult for Chait to realize that his own value in the world of the partisan press is at about the level of Clark's campaign right now.
But no matter; Jonathan Chait will still have a job because his value to those who have a vested interest in seeing Bush reelected is being enhanced, rather than diminished, by his attacks on the Democratic nominee. Congratulations, Jonathan.