I realize that nobody much reads The New Republic anymore, but the attacks on Markos readers are not simply the bitter words of reader starved hacks trying to draw visitors to rarely read sites.
The attacks on Markos and those on the left are part of a larger conflict between those who pay for a certain kind of news and those who are writing from passion and commitment.
Check it out.
Payback time. I'm a New Republic subscriber and I won't be cancelling that subscription anytime soon no matter what Markos or anyone else thinks of my decision. But I do believe the current debate being waged on the web demands some sort of considered response. Not because I think there is a great deal of substance to the charges being levelled against Markos and Jerome Armstrong. But because David Brooks and company are attacking the entire "liberal" blogosphere. And it isn't to hard to figure out why.
This is the post I left on the thread at Plank earlier today.
"This isn't going away. Because going after immensely more popular sites like Atrios is just about the only way TNR can generate any kind of attention for its nearly never-read political blogs.
Your attacks on KOS are simply silly, but your suggestion that those who post on the left are either beholden to or frightened of Markos is really very, very insulting. I read Wolcott, Atrios, Kevin Drum, Josh Marshall, Digby, the Jesus General, Jane Hamsher and the many other highly amusing lesser luminaries because they always, Jason, always make me laugh, something no in-house writer at TNR has managed to do for a very long time.
Writing as a KOS diarist I've openly questioned Markos on his own site on more than one occassion about his political analysis. Yet, that hasn't kept my diaries off the rescue or, one occassion, the recommended list.
BTW, were you really shocked to learn that Marty had never, ever read the most frequently visited Dem site on the web?
Why not write about Marty's stupifying indifference to modern media and political discourse and get back to us about journalistic integrity?
Who knew that Marty was so proud of being an uninformed bubble-head?
Write about the wonderful way Marty managed to pronounce all 92,000 Daily KOS registered members illiterate after a single visit.
Wouldn't you agree that Marty's determination really is the dictionary definition of gross generalization, over-simplification, rush to judgment and all-round sloppy thinking and research?
Marty's lazy, vapid analysis reminded me very much of his coverage of the threat posed by Saddam. I was simply surprised he would so brazenly admit to his lack of interest and effort.
Is any part of this starting to sink in?
TNR's sloppy work ethic helped take America into a disastrous, damaging war that Markos and the rest of us recognized early on as an un-necessary, dangerous distraction from the business of making the world a better place. At TNR you don't care about facts when facts clearly matter, whether the question is serious or fairly trivial. All you had to do was fire off an email. You didn't. At TNR you skip the easy, important stuff.
Saying sorry after 130,000 US troops are on the ground without a winning war strategy simply doesn't cut it. The good news is that your chances of getting part of the Markos story right at some point are much greater. The bad news is that you and the folks at TNR have been instrumental in making it far more difficult to accomplish good; and that your laziness seems to be ingrained. You can't forgive us for being right about the war and courageous enough to speak out when you and Marty were cowering under the bed. Ergo you have no choice but to demonize us all; and to do so you'll persist in your misplaced, lazy, un-professional attacks on KOS readers, diarists and non-TNR approved writers everywhere.
Making crap up has brought TNR this far (down); and laziness is something of a TNR tradition now isn't it?
The troops are still on the ground in Iraq. I'm still writing whatever I like wherever I go, as are millions of others. The world really is up, not down. Hope Marty is making it worth your while. Enjoy your nap."
The New Republic and the New York Times have been wrong and critically wrong about key issues. It is clear that some journalists and media figures are deeply unhappy about that those nominally considered to be part of the audience are taking active roles in driving debate and bringing much more energy and enthusiasm to local, national and international discussions.
Brooks and company do not want to find themselves sharing precious control booth space with unsavory types such as Duncan Black. It's one thing to have a pro-Bush, pro-war lawyer like Hindraker on. They'll turn a blind eye to John's own potty-mouth email attacks. After all, Ass-rocket makes Brooks sound sensible. That fiction disappears once someone like Jane Hamsher or Kevin Drum shows up. Hence the pre-emptive strike on bloggers.
