That's a breathtaking pull quote, I have to say. Klein's come out and said directly that as a pundit, he only feels he needs to pontificate; actually understanding what he's talking about is beside the point.

The self-righteous entitlement and whininess of this statement are shocking and appalling. Doesn't this man realize that he's a privileged and powerful person who owes something back--in this case, informed commentary--to the society that supports him?

Doesn't Time have that level of conscience?

I missed all the prep to this story as I was down in Key West on a short vacation - and I don't read news while on vacation - but from what I've read today, you seem to have this situation pretty well in hand.

You also seem to have handed Mr. Klein his head.

Nice job.

I have neither the time nor legal background to figure out who's right.

An extraordinary admission, when you think about it, because of what it says about how the Serious Mainstream Media has come to view policy issues in recent years.

It says intellectual laziness.

It says a fundamental indifference to the possible consequences of a given policy--after all, nothing particularly bad is going to happen to them.

It says It All Pays The Same.

It says Who Really Gives A Fuck.

It means that the Serious Mainstream Media is in the hands of overaged sophomores who really should give some serious thought to early retirement.

Being forced to admit he doesn't really have Time to figure out what he's talking about because he's too busy talking.

the real story here, glenn, is that joe klein has been caught red-handed, doing what he and the others of his ilk have been doing all along... what's so amazing is that it takes someone like you - tenacious, unrelenting, thorough, and fearless - to dog the footsteps of someone like klein, grab him by his elbow, and twist it until he yells "uncle..." when he has occasionally been caught out in the past, there may have been a short-lived kerfuffle, but not the balls to the wall, take no prisoners approach you are taking... while the imagery of those last two metaphors may connote violence, that isn't how you are going about it... your tenaciousness is the tenaciousness of the truth, something the joe kleins of the world abandoned a long time ago in favor of doggie treats from their handlers...

http://takeitpersonally.blogspot.com/

into Joe's motivation and have found clues here:

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1670184,00.html

Back in the Vietnam era, he seemed the essence of a historic political migration: white males fleeing the feminized, antiwar, politically correct Democratic Party

The percentage of white males identifying themselves as Democrats has declined from 47% in 1952 to about 25% in 2004. Much of that decline was an unavoidable consequence of two honorable positions the party took in the 1960s: in favor of civil rights and against the war in Vietnam. But civil rights slid into special preferences (for everyone, it seemed, but white men), and Vietnam slouched, all too often, into reflexive pacifism and a distrust of the military.

Joe clearly has issues that are quite a bit older and deeper seated than any dust-up over a FISA bill. I don't doubt that his own fears about being considered "feminized, antiwar, politically correct" drive a lot of what can only be considered irrational behavior.

Klein can laugh the whole thing off by saying that Glenn's being shrill again (you know those wacky liberals hahaha).

Or he can figure what the hell, how many people read Salon anyway, Glenn's preaching to the choir, etc., etc..

Or he can change the subject in the usual way, by talking about Bill Clinton.

The key to Serious Mainstream Media success is not only to have the attention span of a bumblebee, but to induce the same state in your readers...

when he has occasionally been caught out in the past, there may have been a short-lived kerfuffle, but not the balls to the wall, take no prisoners approach you are taking

I'm not giving up on this -- ever -- until Time itself accounts for what happened here.

I've been writing about FISA issues for two years and the reason why the public became so confused about what happened -- about the clear law-breaking the President engaged in -- is because people like Joe Klein have been doing this -- outright lying and clouding everything on purpose -- ever since the whole scandal emerged, all in order to defend the President. This illustrates exactly what happened and I'm not letting it go, even if it means relentless email campaigns to Time and more.

Count me as a minion in your jouranlistic jihad Glenn. It is long over due that the likes of Klein have their feet held to the fire. If only I had a subscription to Time that I could cancel with righteous indignation I would sleep well tonight.

Well, you ought to at least give the guy credit for honesty.

"I have neither the time nor legal background to figure out who's right."

Pretty much sums up the entire right wing echo chamber and the corporate media as a whole, doesn't it? Three guess on whether that language appears in his column next week (and the first two don't count)!!!

But really, Glen, I think having "a molecule of critical thought" just doesn't fit into their framework (speaking broadly of the MSM) of what their job is supposed to be. They're just supposed to report what "sources" are saying, not make the slightest sort of judgement call about whether or not any of it makes sense, or is true. That wouldn't be objective! And so the right wing has learned how to effectively game this system, pushing the dialogue ever further to the right. Media consolidation and the pro-corporatization sentiments of Management haven't exactly stood in the way of this process, either.

The sort of exposure and analysis (and attendant humiliation) is exactly what is called for, at least in the short term. Feistier Democrats (or hey, Greens or Libertarians) would help, too. Long-term solution? Break up the media monopolies.