We'd all appreciate it.

Thanks.

-- Hank Gillette

Who is this "we" you speak of? You may speak for yourself, but please don't presume to include me -- not to mention many others here -- in your group.

Thanks!

Svensker

ARE there no intelligent RW trolls? Must they ALL scratch their genitals and stink of stale cheetohs? I know there are a bunch of libertarians who frequent this blog and by and large -- unless there's a lib/LWM flamewar going on -- their arguments are interesting and thoughtful. Ditto the folks who at one time identified with the Republican party. But are there NO current RWers who have any working synapses? Oops, just answered my own question. SATSQ, h/t Atrios.

....why didn't the Administration scream bloody murder about it before? Why did they wait until 2007 for this big change they needed back in 2001? I don't remember any big fights in Congress about FISA until quite recently. Did I miss something? Maybe I was inadvertently in the undisclosed location with the news blackout?

It is the panacea of the incompetent

Ever notice how the less competent the worker, the more resources they want to do their job? That's because, since they don't really know what they are doing, they grab at anything and everything in an effort to find something that will let them get their job done.

Wow. Bingo. That completely explains a situation in my own life.

Cokie and her group never speak to anyone outside their group. They all live together, go to the same schools, attend the same parties, take part in the same "serious" discussions about What's To Be Done. She -- and most of her peers -- have no idea they live in a bubble. The only other people they see are their maids and gardeners. As far as Cokie and her friends are concerned, they ARE normal everyday Americans and Cokie would probably be shocked and offended to hear people describe her as biased or unfair.

Purely anecdotal evidence of the big shift of the press to inside the bubble: My husband used to hang out a bar in Greenwich Village in the 80s, the Lion's Head. It had been a famous hangout for reporters for decades and it was archetypal "hard-bitten-reporter" joint -- signed photos of those who had "made it big" on the wall, copies of books that reporters had written displayed prominently, lots of guys (and occasionally women) smoking heavily, drinking beer or whiskey (no one ever drank wine or mixed drinks) and a crusty old barkeep/owner who actually used to be a seaman. The owner said that he noticed a huge change mid-80s -- all of sudden, the reporters who had been making lower-middle-class wages were being replaced by Ivy Leaguers and folks making big bucks. They wanted to drink boutique beers and fine wines, and they wanted gourmet meals to go with, not just bar snacks and burgers. And instead of talking about the latest gossip on a particularly low-life union boss, they were trading stories about which uptown parties they had been to and which private school their kids were attending. The bar struggled for a few years, as the chic rich "journalists" replaced the old hard-bitten reporters, and finally closed mid-90s.

It would be interesting to see if there's any correlation between the rise of college degrees in "journalism" and "broadcasting" and the decline of actual reporting.

This argument reminds me of my kids when they were little, when I'd hear them arguing with their friends: "It's not fair! Your foot wasn't touching the base all the way! I said safe before you tagged me!"

The rules were made before the election. All the candidates knew what the rules were. Clinton has been in elected office for many years and married to an elected officer for many more -- if she didn't like Democratic party rules, where were she and her husband on the issue before 2008?

Mrs. Clinton's supporters all need a time out, or they're not going to be able to have dessert at the grown-up table.

Glenn does three things: criticizes Republicans, criticizes Democrats for not criticizing Republicans, and criticizes the media for not criticizing Republicans. At the very least you could describe him as fervently anti-Republican, and my point about him (that he cannot be held out a 'truth vetter' for the general media) stands.

-- Proximity Warning

If by "Republican" you mean Bush-ite and Babbitts -- the guys who lie about war, torture, subvert the law, grab power, etc., etc., and the dwarfs who enable them -- then that is a fair argument. Haven't seem Glenn do it to Ron Paul, Lincoln Chaffee, Chuck Hagel, Bob Barr, Bruce Fein, John Dean, Pat Buchanan, Paul Craig Roberts, Charley Reese, etc., all Republicans or former Republicans who have pretty much decried the direction that Bush and his junta of thugs has taken the Republican Party. The bottom line is there are few remaining Republicans who aren't either complete idiots or assholes. I speak as a former Repub.

Who in his or her right mind ISN'T anti-Republican these days?

he invokes the standard cliche of claiming that his war advocacy was so very good-hearted (he just wanted benevolently to drop Freedom Bombs on them) but he couldn't have possibly predicted that those incompetent Bush people would manage the war so badly and spoil his vision

Beautiful. Sickening, though.