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

Nice job.

You've missed a classic. It's been like watching a Master Chef carve a turkey. ;->

Key West is fantastic. Haven't been there in years but would love to go back.

While that may be true in the short-run, Paul, we can hope that this mess, if it is as well publicized as Glenn and others seem determined to see to it that it is, could lead to a huge step forward in the progress column of exposing and unseating the most egregious offenders of the truth in reporting. From the editors to the op/ed pundits and columnists and on up and down the ladders of the money changers.

Joe Klein now hides behind the platitude -- I'm not an attorney. Well, if you're not an attorney and you can't understand the language of a bill, get a neutral attorney to read and interpret it for you. There are many out there who would be willing. I am an attorney, and I read the bill at issue. It appears quite clear to me that it separates the world of communications targeted for wire tapping (actual collection of the contents of a communication) into two groups: (1) communications between a non-US person outside the US with other non-US persons outside the US (i.e. foreign to foreign communications) and (2) communications between a non-US person outside the US with a person in the US. Wire tapping of communications of the first group does not require any court approval. Wire tapping of the second group does. The law allows for emergency wire tapping of the second group and later getting court approval. It seems to me that it is not an extreme opinion to believe that some court should have some oversight before the government can wire tap my communications with my friends in Switzerland.

The sad thing about this is that at the end of the day, Time actually wins out. First, their resident bonehead gets his facts wrong resulting in a severe uptick in pageviews at Swampland (where they're selling Jaguars by the way)

The impact of that is less than infinitesimal. If you think Time would be happy to have its reputation being trashed in multiple, highly-read venues -- complete with forthcoming corrections -- all in exchange for a tiny blip of a traffic increase for a few days, you are mistaken.

In the meantime the 5,000,000 or so people who rely on the print edition will see the original article which trashes the Democrats and then next month will see a one page treatment that "covers the controversy", offering the he said/she said analysis of the bill and creating additional plausability for the ridiculous interpretation that graces Joe's current post.

By this reasoning, no mistakes should ever be corrected.

-- Paul Dirks

Thank you, Glenn. That is exactly why your readers love you and you are the ever-more respected and influential figure you are. Although he is hardly alone in his willful stupidity, Klein's final acknowledgement that he is just too damn lazy to do his job is a breathtaking admission. If Time had any journalistic integrity left, it would fire Klein immediately. This doesn't seem a likely outcome, but with your relentless pursuit of the truth, even pigs might fly.

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.

-- Paul Dirks

...and put him in the dustbin of history. That is what Glenn is in the early stages of accomplishing right now. I doubt I'm alone when I say that this particular version of 'masculinity' leaves me cold.

Give me a "feminized, antiwar, politically correct" man any day. Let's evolve, shall we?

...nor legal background...

Besides trying to give some plausible excuse for his own ignorance, the message here is clear--

This, dear reader, is above your pay grade and security clearance. SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP! The news-weekly is not an invitation to political debate, but a fashion statement to socially distinguish you from the reality TV crowd. It is to sit on your coffee table and to provide vapid lines for cocktail chatter that begin--"There was an interesting article in Time that said..."

"FISA: More Than You Want to Know."

should read

"Everything you wanted [and need] to know about FISA, but the [so-called] journalists were afraid to ask!?"

Oh, wait! That's Glenn Greenwald's topic, not Joe Klein's!

* * *

Finally! Able to post again... Earlier I lost one in the ethers.

Shorter version: Mark Halperin has also has a change of heart/mind:

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/13708.html

Steven Benen had a link from Salon's Blog Report to his post at The Carpetbagger, and included this link to Halperin's piece:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/25/opinion/25halperin.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

As Benen also writes, it is flawed, but still worth the read.

He begins:

MORE than any other book, Richard Ben Cramer’s “What It Takes,” about the 1988 battle for the White House, influenced the way I cover campaigns.

I’m not alone. The book’s thesis — that prospective presidents are best evaluated by their ability to survive the grueling quadrennial coast-to-coast test of endurance required to win the office — has shaped the universe of political coverage.

Voters are bombarded with information about which contender has “what it takes” to be the best candidate. Who can deliver the most stirring rhetoric? Who can build the most attractive facade? Who can mount the wiliest counterattack? Whose life makes for the neatest story? Our political and media culture reflects and drives an obsession with who is going to win, rather than who should win.

Congratulations at least for the moment, bringing this ninny to justice. I'm about to catch a plane home, but the associated miseries of this ordeal will be considerably lightened by these developments.

Klein is obviously and deservedly nervous as a whore in church. Of course, he'll receive absolution from the priests at Time Warner, but in the future, he'll have to be considerably more artful when he is channeling Bill O'Reilly.

Thanks, Glenn, and all you UTers, for a small, fleeting, but nonetheless delicious victory.

I'm going to drink something out of a pineapple right now.