Letters to the Editor
Ché Pasa
Published Letters: 913 Editor's Choice: 2
-
re: Alter's Take... Weh-ell
[Read the article: Answers for Joe Klein]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]That Palace Culture, it do protect its own agin the upstarts, eh?
Now I have no way of knowing whether young Jebediah reported accurately or not, but I do have some familiarity with crusty old Alter's dissembling, or rather "massaging", the facts for his own -- often quite noble -- purposes. Accuracy in this era of Post-Modern News is a matter of... opinion. You see.
And Alter has played with the Big Boys for many years, and knows full well which side his bread is buttered on. And he says Jebediah got it wrong -- which is probably correct in the sense that Jebediah offended one of the Big Boys, which, if there be any justice in this Post Modrun World, should mean that young Jebediah never works on the East Coast (or wherever) again.
Just that simple.
Whatever the facts...
Like the first commenter at Huffington, I am all atwitter.
-
Re: Beg to disagree. It's not "anti-blogger hatred"
[Read the article: A beautiful mosaic of anti-blogger hatred]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]it's anti-LEFTY-blogger contempt.
You get your Politicos, your Drudges, your Powerlines and your Red States and your Michelle Malkins and your Hugh Hewitts, and all your other TIGHTY-RIGHTY bloggers and intertube mavens, and it's a lick-fest love in, even when those righty hate-spewers are dumping on the Big Important Journalists like Crusty Old Jonathan Alter.
So don't call it "anti-blogger" in general, cause that's not what it is. What matters more than anything to these people is WHO is trashing them and WHAT their ideological filter is.
If a "lefty" POV is discerned, then the Palace goes on the assault, albeit firing blind when they aren't firing blanks. But if there's a wingnut totalitarian perspective, oh boy! Welcome, friend!
You know it's true.
Huffington's ex is doing her best to, erm, split the difference.
-
Re: Jebediah
[Read the article: A beautiful mosaic of anti-blogger hatred]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]That's a pretty good slapdown of the crotchety old coot. By which I don't mean Gravel.
Alter is not doing too well in this tiff. What could have moved him to open hostilities in l'affaire du soupe?
To coin a phrase:
Bizarre.
-
What is happening to HuffPo?
[Read the article: A beautiful mosaic of anti-blogger hatred]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]This whole thing is pivoting on Michael Huffington's ex's hiring of Tom Edsall as her Political Editor, along with a number of other "mainstream" hires, utilizing the $5 million in venture capital she recently got in order to "serious up" her online reportage.
Edsall is a questionable choice, according to Glenn and to some others, in that he seems to be one of the many, many mainstream suck-ups to right wing Power, though he has some "progressive" cred. But so does Leon Panetta, and what good is he these days but to tell Dems (over and over again) what their "problem" is and tell them -- even more often -- not to push too hard? Ahem. Wingnuts might get snippy. And we wouldn't want that.
So Jonathan Alter, crotchety old coot that he claims to be, posts at HuffPo a truly ridiculous and insulting (to himself and to the others involved in the Luncheon of Career Death) piece essentially declaring Jebediah Reed, who dared report something said at this Luncheon of Doom re: Dame David Broder, anathema. This was as straightforward a hit on Jebediah as you're likely to see from a recognized mainstream reporter.
He doesn't defend Edsall, he kneecaps Jebediah. WTF?
Wha-wha-wha-- this is out of control.
And not to pry, but who the Hell does Alter think he is? The Enforcer? "You shall not report squat unless I, your lord and master, give you leave?"
What is partly so bizarre about this is that the Problem Child is Broder -- who should really retire before he embarrasses himself and the Post and the journalists who worship him any further -- not Alter, not (really) Edsall, and certainly not Jebediah Reed. Who, at his own place, posts a pretty devastating slapdown of Alter that makes the Old Coot look like a liar as well as a fool. Glenn is practically a spectator by this point, as all these others fight it out.
Gots to hand it to that Arianna, though, for keeping the pot stirred....
-
Re: Jebediah's smackdown of Alter's rant
[Read the article: A beautiful mosaic of anti-blogger hatred]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I believe the term is
pwn3d
Alter has been notably silent since he let his mask slip over at Arianna's place, and for good reason if the tenor of the commentary and Jebediah's open letter are any guide.
He's embarrassed himself, rather badly, and he has enhanced the disrepute the Big Media is held in. Alter's little hissy fit was essentially a recapitualtion of what Joe Klein does over at Swampland practically every day: whining, fact free, assholitry.
Well. Klein has never been on my list of must reads, but Alter has. That doesn't mean that I ever read or watched him unskeptically; it only means that he seemed to know his shit and have his ducks in a row and what he said was worth the effort. But this little display of his tempermental side, in an effort to -- what -- boost his collegaues in the eyes of "lefties" and trash non-colleagues who interfere with his Glory was just plain stupid, ugly and without merit.
He shoulda kept his pie-hole shut.
Or maybe he wanted to be Jebediah's bitch.