In the World of Politico, Progressives are Chimeras and Unicorns
[editor’s note: Spencer will be talking about US Afghanistan policy on MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show tonight, 9PM EDT.]
For an example of how to write a conventional-wisdom story extremely badly, all eyes are on Mike Allen. Allen’s piece today is about how the White House is facing pressure from the left on Afghanistan in advance of a possible request from Gen. McChrystal for more troops and a now-delivered assessment from him to expand the war’s aperture. (Josh Foust rightfully observes that reporters are too focused on the former and not enough on the latter.) Pretty obvious, right? Like how you’ve read this in the Washington Independent ("Obama Faces Rising Anxiety On Afghanistan") on August 12 or August 5 ("Feingold Set To Oppose Further Troop Boost For Afghanistan") or August 3 ("Another Faint Sign Of Congressional Wariness About Afghanistan") even as far back as January 23 ("Progressives Launch Attack On Afghanistan")? Or maybe you’ve read it first-hand on FDL — particularly at The Seminal — or at The Nation or watched one of Robert Greenwald’s films or blogged on Get Afghanistan Right.
You, then, would not be someone Mike’s interested in quoting. I don’t know how you write a piece about progressive pressure on the White House without actually quoting any progressives who are applying that pressure. But this is the closest Mike gets:
“There’s no question that the drumbeat is going to get louder and louder on the left, and you’ll see some fall-off on the right,” said Matt Bennett of the think tank Third Way, the moderate voice of the progressive movement. “His supporters on the Hill are fighting a really serious political battle to keep the criticism under control.”
The moderate voice of the progressive movement, LOL. That’s like calling Olympia Snowe the moderate voice of the conservative movement. You would never see a piece from Politico about conservative pressure on the White House that didn’t cite conservatives — there’s practically a Politico piece every time Rush Limbaugh steps into the booth. And even if there was a Politico piece that did, that would just be… bad journalism. As Alex Horton can tell you, I’m not part of the out-of-Afghanistan caucus, but still — Jesus, dude, it’s not like the caucus is hard to find. Put your back into it!
Mike: I can even introduce you to progressives if you don’t know any. I promise. You know how to reach me.
In The World Of Politico, Progressives Are Chimeras And Unicorns
For an example of how to write a conventional-wisdom story extremely badly, all eyes are on Mike Allen. Allen’s piece today is about how the White House is facing pressure from the left on Afghanistan in advance of a possible request from Gen. McChrystal for more troops and a now-delivered assessment from him to expand the war’s aperture. (Josh Foust rightfully observes that reporters are too focused on the former and not enough on the latter.) Pretty obvious, right? Like how you’ve read this in the Washington Independent ("Obama Faces Rising Anxiety On Afghanistan") on August 12 or August 5 ("Feingold Set To Oppose Further Troop Boost For Afghanistan") or August 3 ("Another Faint Sign Of Congressional Wariness About Afghanistan") even as far back as January 23 ("Progressives Launch Attack On Afghanistan")? Or maybe you’ve read it first-hand on FDL — particularly at The Seminal — or at The Nation or watched one of Robert Greenwald’s films or blogged on Get Afghanistan Right.
You, then, would not be someone Mike’s interested in quoting. I don’t know how you write a piece about progressive pressure on the White House without actually quoting any progressives who are applying that pressure. But this is the closest Mike gets:
“There’s no question that the drumbeat is going to get louder and louder on the left, and you’ll see some fall-off on the right,” said Matt Bennett of the think tank Third Way, the moderate voice of the progressive movement. “His supporters on the Hill are fighting a really serious political battle to keep the criticism under control.”
The moderate voice of the progressive movement, LOL. That’s like calling Olympia Snowe the moderate voice of the conservative movement. You would never see a piece from Politico about conservative pressure on the White House that didn’t cite conservatives — there’s practically a Politico piece every time Rush Limbaugh steps into the booth. And even if there was a Politico piece that did, that would just be… bad journalism. As Alex Horton can tell you, I’m not part of the out-of-Afghanistan caucus, but still — Jesus, dude, it’s not like the caucus is hard to find. Put your back into it!
Mike: I can even introduce you to progressives if you don’t know any. I promise. You know how to reach me.
