LOL. Been taking blog-writing lessons from Digby, has he? Heh.
Everybody has been all atwitter and agog at Taibbi's latest on the Democrats' propensity for last minute caveage to the demands of the Republicans, as well they should be. I know it's been up for a while, but I just got around to reading it today. Shuffle. Shuffle.
The Money Quote:
The Democrats aren't failing to stand up to Republicans and failing to enact sensible reforms that benefit the middle class because they genuinely believe there's political hay to be made moving to the right. They're doing it because they do not represent any actual voters.
Exactly. Nor, let it be said, do the Republicans. They all represent the interest of their Owners and Sponsors. All of them.
Taibbi is one of the damnedest finest political writers practicing the trade today, and his pantsing of the Dems this time is a gem. You can see that he gets his styles and flourishes from his stint with Ames and Levine and the Exile, shut down by Putin's thugs for going where it ought not to, but we might want to ponder why he, Taibbi, has become the go-to guy for the latest and greatest skewerings and pantsings of Our Lords and Masters being regularly published in America today, while Ames and Levine, no slouches themselves, tend to get relegated to the low-rent districts and back alleys (I mean really. Dylan? Rattigan? Mirth and merriment ensue. I think I've done a riff or two on Dylan's good heart but rank incompetence before, but I can't find it in the archives just now. Did I write it at another site? Oh whell.)
The picture above is from an LA Weekly blog post from 2008 by Matthew Fleischer titled "Jesus Made Matt Taibbi Puke." Savory goodness all around."
I try to read Ames, Levine, Dolan and Zaitchik regularly.
ReplyDeleteOften that means rereading old posts that I've read 1,000 times before.
Taibbi has a paying gig at Rolling Stone so he does regular updates.
I think there is some bad blood between Ames and Taibbi, and that's probably why we don't see Ames as a regular contributor to Rolling Stone. Which is a pity.
One reason Matt Taibbi gets the fancy chair at Rolling Stone is because he's Mike Taibbi's son, which is not in itself a bad thing, but it does bring up the whole Legacy Hire issue. I mean, let's not forget Little Luke Russert's gig as Capitol Hill correspondent.
ReplyDeleteBad blood? Could be. The whole situation would make a great media gossip novel or movie.
There was a Vanity Fair article about it:
ReplyDeleteLost Exile:
The unlikely life and sudden death of The Exile, Russia’s angriest newspaper.
Now, I take things like this with a grain of salt, but I still think that there may be some hard feeling between Taibbi and Ames.
I knew about Taibbi being a "journalism blueblood" he even brings it up himself sometimes. I like his writing though, and I have to think he had some positive exposure to real journalism from his Dad. (In fact, I think Taibbi would like to see more journalists come up through the ranks, himself. One of his reasons for founding the Buffalo Beast, I suspect.)
There actually was a movie proposed for the story of The Exile but it is probably just as well as the summary of the script I read sounded "Hollywood silly."
Really, the story is comic-dramatic enough for a screenplay treatment, or maybe a Broadway musical.
ReplyDeleteAnd I, too, find Matt Taibbi's writing -- and his approach -- to be bracing, entertaining and highly informative.