Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

The current Supreme Court is a rogue court. Very dangerous.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

Trump’s legal defense is going to be a dumpster fire inside a clown car on a derailing train.

There is no right way to do the wrong thing.

Oh FFS you might as well trust a 6-year-old with a flamethrower.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

I really should read my own blog.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

The arc of the moral universe doesn’t bend itself. it’s up to us.

“woke” is the new caravan.

Let’s finish the job.

Republicans: The threats are dire, but my tickets are non-refundable!

Fani Willis claps back at Trump chihuahua, Jim Jordan.

They were going to turn on one another at some point. It was inevitable.

Marge, god is saying you’re stupid.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

If you still can’t see these things even now, maybe politics isn’t your forte and you should stop writing about it.

Maybe you would prefer that we take Joelle’s side in ALL CAPS?

Republicans would impeach Biden if he bit into a whole Kit Kat rather than breaking the sections apart.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

We’re not going back!

Not all heroes wear capes.

An unpunished coup is a training exercise.

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Reader Interactions

80Comments

  1. 1.

    SnarkIntern

    the media did a better job of it over the last 8 years than, say, the Bush administration did.

    This raises "damning with faint praise" to a whole new level.

  2. 2.

    The Grand Panjandrum

    Generally Kornblut is OK. But the establishment media did better at holding the government accountable than the government did of holding itself accountable? Whoa! Where’s my tequila I think I’m sobering up.

  3. 3.

    Bill H

    And by and large, I think the media did a better job of it over the last 8 years than, say, the Bush administration did.

    Pffft, pfft, pffzzzt.

  4. 4.

    Thom

    The media did a better job of holding the government to account than the government did?

    I think we’re all going to die very soon. I think there’s poison in the atmosphere.

  7. 7.

    Media Browski

    The Washingtonpost.com: your source for daisychains, group reach-arounds, and general cluster-frakks.

    My gawd they have no shame. I had to break off a friendship with one of them (who will remain unnamed) because she kept defending their terrible editorial staff as "smart people who know DC."

  9. 9.

    Zifnab

    I think the media did a better job of it over the last 8 years than, say, the Bush administration did.

    Wow. That’s like saying the Italians did a better job of defending the Jews during WW2. (Godwin, ftw!)

  12. 12.

    Conservatively Liberal

    Yes! Great job! A round of clap for everyone!

    I hope they break their arms patting themselves on the back.

    Our Corporate Media and their Paid Shills = EPIC FAIL

    There is no such thing as a free press when you can buy everything you want to control. They are paid hacks selling their corporate/party snake oil shit and I ain’t buying it.

    Edit: Title change suggestion: Department of No Standards

    Maybe ‘Department of No Expectations’?

  13. 13.

    Shawn in ShowMe

    The press has also done a better job putting out fires than arsonists ever did.

    Typical MSM scribe = Fire Marshall Bill

  16. 16.

    mantis

    I’ve got a performance appraisal coming up. I think I’ll tell my boss "hey, I was better at my job than the Bush administration!" and see how that goes over.

  17. 17.

    JGabriel

    Fwiffo:

    I did a better job guarding the henhouse than the fox ever did.

    That perfectly sums up one problem with the Kornblut statement.

    The other problem is: If you’ve gotten to the point where you have to compare yourself to the Bush administration to look good, then you’re stooping pretty fucking low to conquer.

    .

  18. 18.

    Punchy

    Slightly annoyed.

    I demand Obama limits the pay of college sports coaches. If $500 large is enough for some dude to dress in suits and ties and eat lots of shimp, then $500 large is enough for some dude to dress in running pants, visor, and eat lots of fan abuse.

    And please start by setting Iowa’s basketball coach to $25K. More than he deserves, actually.

  19. 19.

    Davebo

    Off topic, but has anyone else noticed that the normal credible James Joyner seems to be desperately looking for flaws to point out in the Obama administration, yet constantly ends up with an Emily Littella like never mind..

  20. 20.

    srv

    (Let me know when my WaPo Q&A shtick starts to annoy you.)

    No, I love checking in every morning and being reminded how awful the Fourth Estate is. Doesn’t de press me one bit.

  21. 21.

    maya

    So, which one of them 4th graders estaters asked Bush why he wanted to get into Iraq 10 days after taking office,huh? Which one?

  23. 23.

    Zifnab

    I demand Obama limits the pay of college sports coaches. If $500 large is enough for some dude to dress in suits and ties and eat lots of shimp, then $500 large is enough for some dude to dress in running pants, visor, and eat lots of fan abuse.

    This would be reasonable if a) college coaches were subsidized by the US Gov’t and b) college sports went out and lost several hundred billion dollars in wealth over the last two quarters.

    No one is going to get tossed out of their homes because the Aggies couldn’t take Baylor.

  24. 24.

    Forkbeard

    The important thing to remember is that the corporate media is doing a great job now of holding the Obama administration accountable for its failures over the past 8 years.

  25. 25.

    pseudonymous in nc

    Billmon, July 2005:

    I’m not absolutely positive, but I think I met Anne E. Kornblut at a dinner party in Washington some years back. If she’s the woman I’m thinking of, she was both stupid and arrogant, and quite full of herself for being a New York Times reporter (it goes with the territory, I suppose.) She was also quite clearly a Republican — albeit an appropriately moderate, inside-the-beltway specimen of the breed. Too moderate to be covering for the likes of Karl Rove, I would have thought. But this is war now, and all the little GOP piglets appear to be falling into line — right beside Rove and his journalistic sidekick, the reanimated corpse.

  26. 26.

    Dave

    Actually, I met Kornblut when I worked at the Globe in the 90s. I can’t speak much to the arrogant part, but she came off as a bit of a dim bulb.

  27. 27.

    Nicole

    (Let me know when my WaPo Q&A shtick starts to annoy you.)

    That will be on Wednesday, the 4th of Never.

  28. 28.

    Comrade Darkness

    @maya,

    The list of missing coverage over the last eight years would choke that aflac goat. How about pointing out rather than pointedly ignoring that Bush twice insisted in speeches that we invaded because Iraq wouldn’t let the inspectors in. Really. If they were in their new Obama mode back then the headline would have read "Country at War Led by Frighteningly Confused Commander in Chief"

  29. 29.

    Will

    (Let me know when my WaPo Q&A shtick starts to annoy you.)

    Never, sir. Never.

    As a side note, the Washington Post handled the Iraq War better than the Bush Administration. But just barely.

  30. 30.

    Davebo

    No one is going to get tossed out of their homes because the Aggies couldn’t take Baylor.

    Don’t tell that to Dennis Franchione.

  31. 31.

    Bootlegger

    @Forkbeard: Maybe not, but when coaches, fucking coaches, are the highest paid state employees then something is seriously wrong. All public university coaches are paid by taxpayers. They should limit their pay to the next highest government worker, usually the governor.

  32. 32.

    DougJ

    Nicole and Will: thanks! I’m obsessed with these chats but I’m never sure others share my enthusiasm.

  33. 33.

    Comrade Darkness

    @Bootlegger, that would work for public universities at least, and I’d be all for it. Trouble is that would have to happen at the governor / state leg level and they’d catch hell from crazed fans. But, yeah, it’d be good policy since schools get stuck in this idiotic bidding wars and unless they start colluding, that’s not going to end.

    "I can’t speak much to the arrogant part, but she came off as a bit of a dim bulb."

    Based on the rest of the q&a, it’s a dim bulb wrapped in a perky dissembling cheerleader package. Quintessential journalist type.

  34. 34.

    DougJ

    Quintessential journalist type.

    I know a lot of local journalists and they aren’t much like that at all. It’s weird to me that I see so much tougher journalism covering some bullshit development project in western New York than I do about torture or war.

  35. 35.

    Gus

    It’s not your schtick that’s annoying, it’s the cluelessness of the WaPo fools. Keep that shit coming.

  36. 36.

    Zifnab

    @Comrade Darkness:

    Really. If they were in their new Obama mode back then the headline would have read "Country at War Led by Frighteningly Confused Commander in Chief"

    I disagree. Many of the major news outlets are owned by companies – like GE – that have vested interests in the military industrial complex. So war is ALWAYS a good thing, no matter which party is in power. Obama would have been praised just as generously as GWB.

    However, if the acting President hadn’t invaded Iraq, I can guarantee we’d be hearing horror stories to this day about imminent volleys of ICBMs and dump trucks full of suitcase nukes rolling into your neighborhood by the end of the week. And this would be all the President’s fault, because he didn’t stop the WMDs when he had the chance.

    The media didn’t get behind the GOoPers on Clinton’s Kosovo war nearly as hard as they could have. And during Operation Desert Fox, CNN waited exactly three seconds before sounding the alarm of a shocking shortage of Tomahawk Cruise Missiles (quick! better put in another order, Congress!) Because, hey, money to be made, bitches!

  37. 37.

    Keith

    Shorter Kornblut: "Don’t get all pissy about Broder et al. shouting from the rooftops that lawbreakers shouldn’t be prosecuted because prosecutions are not Broder’s job". Classic misdirection.

  39. 39.

    JL

    Rumor on the street is that SEC might do away with Mark to Market. What do others think about this? Banks are known for their honest analysis, right? lol

  40. 40.

    former capitalist

    @Zifnab: @Zifnab: NPR is the same way. Since they’ve had to announce their corporate sponsorships on the air, the quality of reporting, and the political analysis, has gone down hill. Witness the demise of Bob Edwards.

  41. 41.

    Josh Hueco

    @Davebo:

    No one is going to get tossed out of their homes because the Aggies couldn’t take Baylor.

    Don’t tell that to Dennis Franchione.

    You know we used to take great pride in being so awful a victory over another school would result in their coach’s being fired.

  42. 42.

    South of I-10

    Dropping by with an off topic. A friend sent this to me, and since there are a lot of smart people on here who seem to be job hunting: The LITE Center is looking for a CEO. I guess the downside for some would be having to live in the South. Anyway, just thought I would throw it out there.

  43. 43.

    Shawn in ShowMe

    Gee, the MSM is throwing out all their best bullshit in the first two weeks. These people really need to learn how to pace themselves. They’ve got eight years to fill.

  44. 44.

    IncandenzaH

    I love this stuff (depressing as it is). Think more people should join these WaPo chats & submit questions like these … stack the deck with smart media retorts. maybe it might make them think twice about the crap stories they are currently writing! Hey, sure they’re terrible… but you never know what might stick!

  47. 47.

    jibeaux

    For some reason, I can’t load the WaPo right now. But my husband claims there’s an op-ed written by Obama to which the tagline has been added, "The writer is president of the United States."

  48. 48.

    Ash Can

    @DougJ:

    I’m obsessed with these chats but I’m never sure others share my enthusiasm.

    I too think your reporting on them is great. It gives us insight into what some of these goofs are thinking (or not thinking). Of course, my favorite is when you cite questions from the chats that take the hacks to task for their shoddy work, along with their predictable responses of "But, but, but — ::whine:: you’re so mean." I love the idea that someone is paying attention when they lie down on the job, and is calling them on it.

  51. 51.

    jibeaux

    I like Gene Weingarten’s chats, in a non-ironic way. They typically involve some sort of diagnosis (he’s a former hypochondriac), relationship advice, political humor, and pleading for more women to start wearing boots & skirts.

  52. 52.

    John S.

    Don’t worry, folks.

    After spending the next however many years running a Democratic president through the ringer (to make up for going soft on the last Republican president), the MSM will be sure to put the kid gloves back on for the next Republican president (to make up for going so hard on the last Democratic president).

    Just like they went soft on Reagan all those years, and made up for it by dogging every step Clinton made from day one, and then made up for that by going soft on Bush. And so on and so forth ad nauseum until the end of time. And of course, it’s all just cyclical and purely coincidental who they go soft on (Republicans) and who they are tough on (Democrats). Just a coincidence, nothing to see here…

  54. 54.

    GSD

    It’s become the Soft Bigotry of Low Expectations Nation.

    Let as all revel in the mediocrity.

    -GSD

  55. 55.

    former capitalist

    Sometimes the media actually surprises me. I just read Gail Collins’ column in today’s NYT. She really goes after the Republicans’ stonewalling on the stimulus package. Credit where credit is due.

  56. 56.

    JL

    We haven’t seen anything yet. In case it has not been mentioned yet, Justice Ginsburg had surgery today for pancreatic cancer. She is a colon cancer survivor having undergone surgery, chemo and radiation in 1999.

  57. 57.

    ksmiami

    THat is why blogs have to destroy these fuckers – burn the apparatus to the ground and start over. Motherfucking hell I hate Broder and Broderism. These people are turly a waste of flesh with the small exception of Klein who is a pretty decent guy after all.

  59. 59.

    South of I-10

    @former capitalist: there is a link in LITE and CEO in the previous post, can’t link back to it now, using my phone.

  60. 60.

    DougJ

    These people are turly a waste of flesh with the small exception of Klein who is a pretty decent guy after all.

    I agree.

  61. 61.

    GSD

    Let’s hope against hope that President Obama doesn’t appoint his fourth Republican to replace Ginsberg….Robert Bork….

    -GSD

  63. 63.

    JL

    @GSD: Not even a pleasant thought. I do think that Gregg’s refusal to vote on the stimulus taught President Obama about what the Repub version of bi-partisanship means.

  64. 64.

    SGEW

    Oh, Ruth! I will always cherish your dissent in Gonzales v. Carhart.

    Can you even imagine the willpower she has had to hang on this long? Can you imagine her relief on Nov. 4th?

  65. 65.

    El Cid

    And I did a better job of holding the media to account for their actions than the media did themselves. Voila!

  68. 68.

    AhabTRuler

    OT Steve Benen seriously hearts John and DougJ.

    And so do the concern trolls in the comments there. One even said of our Mr. Cole:

    …[he] exemplifies the cluelessness of "sensible liberal" bloggers.

    Which I guess makes him one of "the John Coles of the left."

    (Trolls and Coles, Coles and Trolls. Troll Troll Troll. Cole Cole Cole. Gee, this is fun!)

  69. 69.

    roseyv

    the media did a better job of it over the last 8 years than, say, the Bush administration did.

    I can’t argue with that.

    Of course, my cat did a better job than both of them combined.

    And she’s been dead for three years.

  70. 70.

    The Populist

    Take Pajamas Media for example (please)! I mean did you know that radical islam will change America? What wonderful reporting opinions they have over there.

  71. 71.

    Comrade Darkness

    @4tehlulz, that is incredibly sad for her. Not a likely cancer to win against.

    And imagining McPain picking a replacement makes me break out in a cold sweat.

    "Let’s hope against hope that President Obama doesn’t appoint his fourth Republican to replace Ginsberg….Robert Bork….
    -GSD"

    BORK! Bork is the poster child for why we need investigations and jail time for the former administration, thank you very much. f*ck this looking ahead exclusively crap. This guy was Nixon’s shill. He and his cohort shouldn’t be anywhere near government, but Ford insisted "we had to look ahead" too. and look what hath wrought us.

  72. 72.

    comrade scott's agenda of rage

    Kornblut is one of the Post’s 30-something reporters who…suck. Just like their 40-something reporters, and 50-somethings.

    The best newspeople at the Post? The sports people. They do real reporting.

    And Doug, no it doesn’t get tiring. I used to blog over at Teh Orange on some of the more egregious chat comments by the Posties (Lois Romano being a fav but she’s just one of many). I just got tired of documenting their stupidity.

    The thing is, in almost every chat by someone like Kornblut or Murray or Kane, they’ll say totally indefensible things like you quote here.

    Again, she’s mediocre. I’m shocked.

  73. 73.

    AhabTRuler

    This guy was Nixon’s shill.

    No one ever remembers this. I have spent the last 2.5 years at my college reminding people of this fact when people (all too frequently) mention his name. Of course, I carry Nixon’s ghost with me like a balloon, just to remind folks.

    No one ever mentions that Woodstein weren’t Villagers when the investigated Tricky Dick, they were local (Metro and Style, Maybe?? Can’t remember exactly). Even then the WH reporters didn’t want to investigate the sordid details of a Republican President’s felonies.

  74. 74.

    HyperIon

    (Let me know when my WaPo Q&A shtick starts to annoy you.)

    i just think it’s a waste of time but it’s your time.
    As a target rich environment, WaPo is certainly mega-mockable.

    The thing I hate about Q&A is: there is no A. People ask questions, sometimes good ones, but I have NEVER read an "answer" that was anything but utter BS. There is no mechanism for follow-up either.

    Asking tough/good questions can "work" only if somebody is forced to respond substantively. Like in a trial. WaPo Q&Aers and pols in general cannot be made to answer the fucking question.

  76. 76.

    pseudonymous in nc

    The best newspeople at the Post? The sports people. They do real reporting.

    As ever, my go-to on this is what Matt Taibbi said in 2004:

    The sporting press in America is a reverse mirror image of its "serious" news counterpart: It is unbelievably vicious and demanding in its interviews; it doesn’t take no for an answer from anybody; it is utterly relentless in its quest to find out What Is Wrong With Our Team (even if the team is doing not so badly); and, most pointedly, it has absolutely no respect for coaches, owners and other authority figures… If George Bush had to go through what Theo Epstein in Boston or Mitch Kupchak in Los Angeles goes through on a daily basis, he would resign within 20 minutes.

    There’s plenty more at the link. It’s a good primer on what happens when sports reporters who make the the shift to politics (including Taibbi himself) and also points to why Keith Olbermann loves himself so very much.

  77. 77.

    IncandenzaH

    Hyperlon, you’re right about most of the chats, but there are some reporters who don’t shy away from tougher questions, and even post follow-ups. Though their answers basically make most thinking people scream, at least they engage. One of the best at that was Jonathan Weisman, who is no longer with the Post. The worst is Howard Kurtz: Three-to-one wingnut comments, and only the battiest of left-wing comments that he can bat away easily… but keep in mind that his wife is a (former?) right-wing operative, so consider the source. Heck, his wife probably posts most of the wingnut comments, if he doesn’t just make them up himself!

  79. 79.

    les

    Since they’ve had to announce their corporate sponsorships on the air, the quality of reporting, and the political analysis, has gone down hill.

    Actually, it was the other way around–they want to announce, to encourage grants/gifts, and the rules were changed to allow the mini-commercials they do now. I think far more damaging to reporting/analysis has been the series of ideological, incompetent hacks appointed by W to run NPR over the last 8 years. Shocking, I know. I certainly agree with your conclusion, though.

  80. 80.

    c u n d gulag

    Anne,
    To say both the media and the administration did a shitty job is an insult to shit.
    At least shit can be used for manure. I wouldn’t use parts of the WaPo to wrap my fish. Well, maybe I would – after all, the fish can’t read, and it’s dead, so it wouldn’t be insulted by Fred Hyatt, George Will, and many others.

    She’s setting the stage for another Ken Star-style inquisition over something stupid to prove how "tough" the press will be after it’s epic failure to really oversee the Bush mis-Adminstration.

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