I signed up to blog here just so I could express my thanks for this article. This is what journalism is all about. Thank you, Glenn Greenwald. Brilliant!

Re: "Ace of Spades" posts... This "Ace of Spades" is like "Shooter243"; a parody (but not as clever as "shooter243") of the real McCoy...The real Ace of Spades has a RW blog...-- Arne Langsetmo

Ah. Foiled again by the inability to parody these fellows. The imposter's name links to the real website.
These things are always unwise to respond to, although... the lack of clarity in his "voice" is doubtlessly sourced as I'd inferred, in some impediment to the free movement of his tongue. His stuff is the essence of uncute.

Arne, I still think you'd make a fair unit of measurement for some aspects of the blogosphere, just not dickosity. It's probably a unitless ratio in any event.

I am not sure where Cohen heard the term, or in what circles has "fallen into disuse," but it is still fairly au courant in the international economic justice (corpspeak: "anti-globalisation") community. The term "liberal" here is used in reference to the so-called "liberal school of economics" most famously advanced by Adam Smith: no restrictions on manufacturing, no barriers to commerce, no tariffs, he said -- free trade was the best way for a nation's economy to develop. Such ideas were "liberal" in the sense of no controls. This application of individualism encouraged "free" enterprise," "free" competition -- which came to mean, of course, free for corporations to make as huge a profit as they wished.

The prefix "neo-" of course, means "new," as in "everything old is new again."

Ain't we got fun.

It sounds like training for young journalists these days has an emphasis on simple mechanics and a de-emphasis of both the need to understand the broader contexts of a story and any examination of the theoretical underpinnings of the job.

So among other things, it sounds like this has made the job a lot easier to do.

Unlike Glenn, your journalists do not have to read through source after source to get to the truth of things. They do not have to attend to history or have a good cross-disciplinary understanding of economics, law, international relations, etc. They do not have to set themselves against anyone with the power to harm them or threaten their jobs. They merely have to accept an official version and make a half-assed attempt to show that there might be opposing (but by definition wrong) views on the subject.

If this is the case, it seems that the profession will draw less talented, inspired, or intelligent people.

Oh, wait...

The animated child characters in that Saturday morning cartoon are incredibly resilient and resourceful. A diverse group that works (and plays well) together.

I especially enjoyed the summer movie of same a few years ago.

It had everything: a government plot, and a "manchurian" principal, if memory serves, and, in the end, the "kids" save the day.

Definitely intended for the older crowd... lots of 60's references. It seems strangely appropriate right now. I just noticed the release date, when I looked it up at IMDB.

Director: Chuck Sheetz

Writers: Paul Germain (television series Recess) & Joe Ansolabehere (television series Recess)

Release Date: 16 February 2001 (USA) more view trailer

Genre: Animation / Family / Comedy / Mystery / Sci-Fi

Tagline: Saving The World One Playground At A Time

Plot Outline: TJ and company must save summer vacation from disappearing forever.

There are so many sub-types. We just call them trolls.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_troll

But Cohen wrote a column a week or so ago where he tried to revise reality to describe Bush as a "neoliberal"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/28/AR2007052801053.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

Years ago, someone coined the term "neoliberal." I was never sure what it meant, and it has since fallen into disuse, but whatever the case, I'd like to revive (and mangle) the term and apply it -- brace yourself -- to George W. Bush. He's more liberal than you might think.

that kind of bullshit is helping to head this country off a right-wing cliff.

Basically it's 4th grade recess.

Spoken like a suppurating abscess.

That's what Cohen and the rest are ... ghosts in the machine. Every now and then they appear to journalists doing journalistic work, but its most just a phantasm that you see. The machine has taken over.

Paul Rosenberg has been calling this the Versailles press. In The Assault on Reason, Gore quotes Habermas as saying that we're seeing the "refeudalization of the public sphere."

These neo-vassals are trying to push us out of the democratic process. That's what an article like this from Cohen amounts to. I ain't gonna be a serf.

So did your Mom (at least once a month) but she still wore the pants in the home you were raised in.

and proves the point again. The apathy trolls try to get you not to care, when they obviously do.

This post has been highlighted by Frankly, my dear...

http://letters.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/06/18/tragic_legacy/permalink/e2e544ba252a5999615cc82c749c32ba.html

bringing you fame and glory, as well as a small token of our appreciation.

The details are here:

http://language-grammar.blogspot.com/2007/06/todays-good-grammar-and-good-taste.html

That's funny, I thought the fourth graders were the ones talking about their daddy's aqua velva and talking about who they were going to beat up after school.

Would that include you? You seem to be thumping your chest rather derisively.

Kudos!

"I encourage all Americans to continue our march toward the day when the worth and humanity of every person is respected and the full promise of America reaches every citizen."

President George W. Bush, June 19, 2007

Ummm, George? We're marching the wrong way...

If you read this thread of 'letters' you'll see what the problem with the new media really is. It's chatter and nonsense and people carrying on side conversations about who has the right to thump their chests and shout down everyone else. Basically it's 4th grade recess. Kudos.