You know, yesterday, as I read The New Republic's attempt to tell me that it was up to me and President Obama to save newspapers through a sustained campaign of refusing to call them out for their failings, thus propping up their reputations, I overlooked a very vital and ongoing story that could help to expose this fraudulent set of ideas. So let's connect the dots, shall we? The Washington Post published a piece by George Will that's simply rife with intellectual dishonesty. What are the consequences, for having served up flim flam to readers? There are none! No one loses their job, no one gets disciplined. It's all just a part of their vibrant backdrop of editorial opinion! It raises the question: why should anyone on the Post's op-ed page even bother to tie their opinions to ANY real-world truths? Why can't everyone just MAKE SHIT UP? Obviously, the people who are attempting to provide an honest foundation for their opinions are just suckers.
Anyway, Matt Yglesias has a lot more on this, worth reading in full. And it's worth revisiting this piece by Matt Taibbi as well. That Thomas Friedman is routinely allowed to rape the English language the way he does is proof that someone at the New York Times holds their readership in sneering contempt.
Some Hope In Dope: BoingBoing's got an oldie, but a goodie, especially at a time when millions of job-seekers need some inspiration - a classified ad taken out by an employment seeking former marijuana dealer, who pluckily recasts his criminal life as a set of desirable skills: "During this time I also co-owned and participated in the executive level management of 120 people worldwide in a sucessful pot smuggling venture with revenues in excess of U$ 100 million annually."
Shephard Fairey Turns to Crowdsourcing: Lawrence Lessig says the best way to help Shep Fairey out in his lawsuit with the AP is to gather up any or all images that resemble Fairey's ubiquitous Obama poster. They are especially looking for any image of Obama sitting serenely while wearing artistically applied red and blue face paint, while the word "HOPE" floats in the air in front of him. That would be a huge help.
Schism Prevention: Spencer Ackerman reports on the efforts of the National Security Network, who hope to head off a possible split in the progressive policy community as Obama ramps up military activity in Afghanistan. Blogger Jason Rosenbaum says, "We think there's a lot of common ground among progressives on Afghanistan, especially when you get the around the question of the war-fighting part." Yeah, that very minor "war-fighting part."
Remember Reid?: On the matter of Roland Burris, the gang from First Read do: "Harry Reid has to be muttering, 'I told you so.'"
Unless, Of Course, You Want To Think About Dr. Manhattan's Irradiated Blue Wang: Videogum asks if Watchmen-themed condoms are "the worst promotional item ever." Well, it's strange! These are definitely the best condom-themed movie tie-in in the history of cinema. But, yeah, that basically means that this is, indeed, the worst promotional item ever.