Until there is at least one 24-hour cable Contempt Channel, in which craven buffoons like Broder are pilloried and sneered at around the clock, this nation will have no chance at achieving balanced discourse.

Glenn continues to be a hero of mine because he articulates his disgust and states the strong and principled basis for the contempt we should all feel. That basis is simply being an American (with any RUDIMENTARY understanding of what that entails).

One prime reason a Gore candidacy would excite me is that it would be an opportunity for this polity to repudiate the self-serving and hollow gibbering of commentators who wanted a horse race in 2000, to create a market for their commentary in the absence of any remotely competitive market of ideas in the election. Name your commentator: they are vermin. I except no one.

This is my first post on Salon, after many years of reading; I have just re-activated my subscription due to Glenn's arrival. Nothing could be more fitting than to compose this posting as a prolonged sneer at the deeply banal and deeply evil culture of punditry that has obscured so many values, and therewith destroyed and damaged so many lives. Salon, like Knight Ridder, James Fallows, and precious few others, has mitigated the disgraceful hollowing-out of our fact-oriented deliberative democracy.

It is long past time to quit being polite. People like Broder deserve public humiliation and their ideas, until some record of rigor establishes otherwise, deserve no extended hearing. It is our duty to sneer as loudly as possible, and not to pretend that we would rather not.

Broder, you disgust us all and your parents, teachers, and colleagues should be ashamed of you.

Contemptuously --

Jim LePeer, in what way is your comment about left-wing 'hate' relevant to this exchange?

I wonder also if you could define 'accountability' as a public phenomenon (rather than as, say, something one might pray about in private).

In other words, what in the world are you talking about?

Jim vdH

This changes nothing about who Ann Coulter is in the eyes of decent society, history, etc.

But the applause can be used in the future as a convenient benchmark: the moment when self-identified political "conservatism" as a movement -- as opposed to conservatism with regard to particular issues, which could survive in any number of ways -- can be said definitively to have jumped the shark.

The country isn't necessarily opposed to conservative opinions. But it is, unambiguously, opposed to these people.

How am I the only one to have noticed that Schneider has as much trouble with his calendar as Brian Ross seems to have with the periodic table?

"Brian Ross did in fact update and clarify our original Friday, October 26, 2001 Anthrax/Bentonite report and quickly.

"On Tuesday, November 1, 2001, Brian Ross had the following exchange with Peter Jennings on World News Tonight."

Encyclopedia Brown thought for a while, and then announced to the astonished adults in the room, "Mr. Schneider cannot speak for responsible journalism, because Mr. Schneider is himself laughably error-prone."

And sure enough, it was only a few minutes later that gales of laughter rained down again upon the supine form of a spokesperson of a major U.S. 'news' organization.

HOW DID ENCYCLOPEDIA KNOW?

...

Relaxing that evening in his garage, under his famous '25-cents-a-day-plus-expenses sign,' Encyclopedia explained his reasoning:

October 26, 2001, when ABC's initial error occurred, was indeed a Friday. This much we knew.

But as anyone who had done a little research himself would know, no correction issued on November 1, 2001, could possibly have been issued on the next Tuesday.

(Encylopedia paused to take a bite of apple and a swig of chocolate milk.)

Tuesday would have been just two news days later -- hardly long enough for the clay to dry on an initial irresponsibly-sourced warmongering storyline. But November 1, 2001, was NOT a Tuesday, and was more than two business days later. In fact, it was FIVE days later -- much less "soon" that Mr. Schneider let on in his alibi. November 1, 2001, as any weapons inspector could tell you, was a Thursday.

Which, to be fair (as my spirit-twin Glenn Greenwald would say), does start with the same letter.

Way to set the record straight, ABC, you nincompoops.

Jim vdH

PS. By the way I think someone should note that it's just barely possible that the four unreliable sources from the first story came through with additional synchronized stories claiming that a second battery of tests had corrected the first one. If those four people could speak credibly for the White House on background then ABC might be off the hook -- although at that point more corroboration about the 'suggestions' from the initial test should have been sought; and if it couldn't be found those sources should have had their anonymity blown forthwith.

Oops, overhasty posting -- I should have said that Thursday was six days later, or four business days.

Also, Schneider said "quickly," not "soon."

Hey, correcting is fun!

Jim vdH

Glenn is worth it to his READERS. I just sent $60, and I'm an academic.

Terrific as always, Glenn. An absolutely devastating avalanche of facts.

Nice letter by Rosenberg just now, too.

Bravo.

Jim vdH