Rush and Coulter = Howe and Harrington? Really?

By Eric Alterman

We've got a new Think Again column here and it is called "The Other Meltdown: Conservatives." And I've got a new column in Moment called "Israeli Films Boldly Go Where Few Politicians Dare," and that's here

Take a look at this video and ask yourself how stupid the Neocons could have been to think that the best thing for the Iraqis would be for the United States to tell them what to do with their country. You can't even blame the guy in it. He's doing the job he was trained for; he just wasn't trained for this job.

Speaking of war supporters who call the rest of us stupid, on The New Yorker's blog, George Packer writes:

This clip from the weekend's Conservative Political Action Conference reminds me exactly of what meetings of the Democratic Socialists of America sounded like in the nineteen-eighties. Just substitute "free-market capitalism" for "big government," "the New Deal" for "the era of Reagan," and everything else--the defensive contempt toward popular rule, the retreat into the comfort of a purified "philosophy," the denunciations of unnamed appeasers within the ranks, the call to "stamp out" middle-way weaklings--is the same.

I wonder if Packer might want to revisit this one. He may have traveled quite a distance from his former friends and political values, personally, but does he really wish to equate Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter with Michael Harrington, Irving Howe, Cornel West, Ron Dellums, Harold Meyerson, Marc Levinson, JoAnn Mort, etc. It is not an uncommon trait in political pilgrims to heap contempt on their former selves, but I think Packer might wish to rethink this one.

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March 5, 2009

Slacker Friday

By Eric Alterman

We've got a new "Think Again" column here called, "Thank God for Gitmo." I've also got a new Nation column called "War is Over (If You Want It) here.

Name: Charles Pierce
Hometown: Newton, MA.

Hey Doc:

"Here come the Wild Tchoupitoulas/ Here come the uptown rulers."

Weekly WWOZ Pick To Click: "My People Need A Second Line" (Dr. John) --Laissez les bon temps and all that. It was Mardi Gras, and my friend Wright Thompson rode a lead float through the streets of the city I love more than David Brooks loves the sizzling of the suburban barbecues in his head.

Short Takes

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February 27, 2009

Strange Victory, Strange Defeat

By Eric Alterman

We've got a new "Think Again" column here called, "Thank God for Gitmo."

I've also got a new Nation column called "War is Over (If You Want It) here. I really like the hed of the Nation column, though I'm guessing a tiny number of people will get the (relatively) old farty historical reference. Had I wanted to appear hip to the young folk, I could have used "Strange Victory, Strange Defeat" which is a pretty excellent song by the Silver Jews, one of the few newish bands for whom I've developed an appreciation. But I guess I yam what I yam...

I read this at Today's Papers this morning: The WP's David Broder writes that Obama's speech on Tuesday "was a dramatic reminder of the unbelievable stakes he has placed on the table in his first month in office." Veteran lawmakers know how difficult it is to get one ambitious piece of legislation through Congress, but on Tuesday they heard how Obama wants them to overhaul energy, health care, and education. Oh yeah, and there's that little problem with the economy and some wars being fought on foreign soil. "Is he naive? Does he not understand the political challenge he is inviting?" writes Broder. "When we elected Obama, we didn't know what a gambler we were getting."

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February 26, 2009

Leonard Cohen Takes Manhattan

By Eric Alterman

We (Danielle and I) have a new Think Again up here.

It's called Media To Climate: 'Drop Dead.'

"There is a crack; a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in."

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February 20, 2009

Still Tired...

By Eric Alterman

We (Danielle and I) have a new Think Again up here It's called Media To Climate: 'Drop Dead'

We had a few problems with the links last time and apparently a great many people, through no fault of their own, did not get the joke. Here's one:

Name: Father Joseph Sullivan
Postal: Boston, MA

Young Man,

Please refrain from all the profanity. It's hard to take you seriously when you write like an 8th grader.

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February 19, 2009

Slacker Friday

By Eric Alterman

We've got a new "Think Again" column here called, "FCC, Meet 'Change'" and a new Nation column called "Save the News, not the Newspaper," here.

This just in: Brilliant guy compares Alterman on Bruce to Casablanca!

And damn if he doesn't have a point, (IONSHO).

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February 13, 2009

Daydream Believer

By Eric Alterman

We've got a new "Think Again" column here called, "FCC, Meet 'Change'" and a new Nation column called "Save the News, not the Newspaper," here.

They give awards for this? And this?  Here's some advice. Next time someone offers you the Sol Taishoff Award for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism, given out at the National Press Foundation's annual dinner, ask for the cash instead.

Also, in case you weren't aware, I am working together with Hamas to threaten the lives of nice, quiet, polite, Jewish folk, here.

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February 12, 2009

Slacker Friday

By Eric Alterman

We've got a new Think Again column here called "William Kristol: Journalism's Indispensable Man."

Name: Charles Pierce
Hometown: Newton, MA.

Hey Doc:

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February 6, 2009

Super Bowl Shuffle

By Eric Alterman

We've got a new Think Again column here called "William Kristol: Journalism's Indispensable Man."

Here are a few arguments I've made recently, with the categories only implied, inspired by all the guessing about what Bruce would play at the Super Bowl:

1) Born to Run for historical purposes, but Tunnel of Love to actually put on; Wild and Innocent is eliminated by virtue of the inclusion of Wild Billy.

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February 5, 2009

At Last...

By Eric Alterman

Danielle Ivory writes:

Five minutes just breezes by. At least this is what I've gathered from watching the recent House Financial Services hearings on the economic crisis. It's super hard to do any serious fact-finding about catastrophic economic decisions in just five minutes. So why bother? Even if you're a powerful Congressional leader, tasked with oversight and sitting within throwing distance of one of the dudes running the bailout and the whole thing is being broadcast on national television, it's just easier to use your precious five minutes to pontificate generically or hurl abuse generically or to embarrass the Hill-mate who may or may not have said something mean about you to the Associated Press.

Which is why I was so pleasantly surprised when I saw Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) take the road less traveled and open a can o' whoop-ass on Vice Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Donald Kohn. If time flies when you're having fun, this five-minute back-and-forth must have dragged on for-EVER for Kohn. While newbie Grayson, who used to prosecute Iraq war profiteers and happens to look a bit like an old-timey boxer, punched away, Kohn admitted that the Fed's balance sheet had spent (lent, I meant, lent!) nearly $2 trillion just since September. But he refused to divulge who had received the money and how much. This brief rumble appears to have prompted a full hearing on transparency at the Federal Reserve, starring Chairman Ben Bernanke, to be held on February 10. When I asked Grayson about the exchange, he replied simply: "I wanted to know what was going on with the Fed and the one guy who potentially could tell me what was going on was sitting right in front of me." Fair enough.

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February 3, 2009