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I see Prof. Wilentz's dogged insistence on publicly embarrassing himself and ruining his reputation as an American historian continues.
One presumes Wilentz thought he'd be the Arthur Schlesinger of a second Clinton presidency. It's hard to fathom any other reason why he's continued to pen this increasingly vituperative and ridiculous screeds. Here's the timeline of recent Wilentz pieces -- note how they get less historical and more hysterical as the Clinton candidacy fades.
http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/stumper/archive/2007/11/16/making-the-case-for-hillary-clinton-by-sean-wilentz.aspx
http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=1f22d28c-ced2-4761-b350-77f3513928ac
http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=a383df9e-9d33-4b57-b832-a75b7c4d0d0c
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-wilentz26jan26,0,5561702.story
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2008/0801.wilentz.html
http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=fd72d239-fb33-4493-be6a-2a869fa597d2
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/14/AR2008021401595.html
And, still his crowning farce:
http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=aa0cd21b-0ff2-4329-88a1-69c6c268b304
Funnily enough, I'm pretty sure I saw Wilentz at the nearby dog park over the weekend, and was going to suggest he chill with the anti-Obama rhetoric, for fear of completely destroying his reputation among this generation of historians. (Although by now, it's in tatters regardless.) If I'd known a further installment was coming, I'd have taken the plunge.
