For a while there, the Beltway stars were all over the place. We watched CNN, we read the major papers and magazines. And then along came bloggers, and thoughtful essays (like this one) to show us that the media and the people they were reporting on were friends. And their 'opinions' had a bias that was neither left or right, but wrong.

And so, we're beginning to stop watching and reading in increasing numbers. And the beltway stars are seeing their influence wane a little. Maybe that's why they complain about bloggers. Not because bloggers are 'not them', but because posts like this are showing the people that we should stop turning to these outlets for opinion. Over and over they are wrong.

I would comment at the post on how ridiculous Cohen's article is, but then I have to register. And I think it's better to just ignore them. Like my mom used to say about bees: ignore them and they might go away.

Is how the people of whom Cohen is an example but of course it includes David Broder and Joe Klein and countless others I choose to ignore, are identified as liberal. They are not liberal but by being labeled as such they not only skew the way news coverage is depicted but they also reinforce the worst stereotypes of East Coast elitists.

Versailles indeed.....

Keeping the lights off is exactly what Politico is doing when it promotes the campaign to pardon Libby insisting that it would be “politically good” for Bush to pardon him.

If you turn the lights on, however, you’ll find that 72% of public disapproves of such a pardon, according to Time poll, and other polls have found similar majorities against it.

But Politico and the Beltway media’s constant campaign has had an effect with some of the leading candidates GOP expressing outrage over the sentence, as if that’s what the public is demanding – it isn’t.

Thompson seems to be the worst, denying everything about the case in the National Review, a column as disingenuous as anything I’ve seen. (Larry Johnson and other CIA employees have responded.)

The only way they (Republican candidates and their cohorts) can get away with these distortions is if the media operates in the dark, ignoring the well-lit reality in favor spewing of GOP talking points.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200706180003?f=h_top

http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/coffeehouse/2007/jun/15/a_letter_to_the_rnc_from_former_cia_officers

Mr. Greenwald,

While I ordinarily find your writing to be insightful, I believe you are off-base in your criticism of Mr. Cohen today. Clearly, in Mr. Cohen's article, when discussing the "urging of the liberal press (especially the New York Times)" he was referring to Joe Wilson's July 6, 2003 "What I Didn't Find In Africa" op-ed. Had Mr. Wilson not pursued his personal matters so agressively, Mr. Libby's entire ordeal would have been easily avoided.

I do not understand how you missed this so obvious point.

You starting to understand why I use the term "Versailles."

You right.

Is that a serious question? For real? No, seriously, you don't know?

Because 'history' and the media have degenerated into oblique sniping blogs what whine about what other people said about other people said about other people said about the 'media'. It's a self perpetuating shit storm. Remember when Imus was on? He'd have Frank Rich complain about what Chris Matthews said about what Bob Sheiffer said on Face the Nation about Tim Russert. And online 'media' has amplified that by a factor of one million.

Thanks for your posting. I've been steaming over Cohen's latest crap and you've managed to put it into words. Mine would have been slightly stronger.

Hilarious letter!
Please let us know if he replies.
Thanks,
Gordon Ginsberg

A terrific commentary...

One of your best posts...

I deal with consumer bankruptcy in my job, and I must say that real estate with the lights out is not doing this country any good either.

What the hell does that even mean? - As with sex or real estate, it is often best to keep the lights off - How do you not know that you showing a very unattractive aspect of yourself right when you are writing that? Maybe he did, and doesn't mind, and so wrote it anyway, believing he sounds clever and urbane.

And is he saying "If you were powerful and clever and in my club like me, you could do dirty nasty things in bed and in your financial dealings, and no one would tell -- as long as you didn't tell on anyone else in the club"?

It's not like it's new, but it seems like people in the public eye at least used to do a much better job of pretending not to be unscrupulous, unaccountable schmucks.

Decadence is another word for rotting on the vine.

ps - and y'all, be gentle with jeremys. looks like he is new at this whole "concern troll" thing.

Two modules of my brain are at war, fighting for use of my face. The "Holy F'ing crap I can't believe this guy is serious", Outrage Module; and the "This is so F'ed up, I can't help laughing", Irony Sensing Module.

"As any prosecutor knows -- and Martha Stewart can attest -- white-collar types tend to have a morbid fear of jail."

This has to be one of the most revealing things ever written, outside of political satire...please John Stewart, have a blast with this bit!

I know the blue collar types out there are in a hurry to get to jail, so I'll keep this short.

Gross on so many levels, and thank you Glenn because we need to be grossed-out often!

I weep and shake my fists for the future, but I'm cackling like a freak through the tears.

It seems to me that what happened to Libby shows exactly why it's a mistake to practice the dark arts. Had Libby or some other administration official published an op-ed piece responding to Wilson's article, or had they simply ignored it, the whole thing would have disappeared in short order. Instead, folks got clever, and now at least one of them is either going to jail or headed for a pardon.