WaPo fires Froomkin. Why?
Liberal media bias. Obviously.
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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.
We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.
Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.
“Squeaker” McCarthy
Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.
Damn right I heard that as a threat.
“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”
The words do not have to be perfect.
Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.
Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.
Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?
The willow is too close to the house.
Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.
Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.
So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.
Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.
Happy indictment week to all who celebrate!
When do the post office & the dmv weigh in on the wuhan virus?
When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.
This fight is for everything.
“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”
Everybody saw this coming.
Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.
Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
Svensker
Hope he gets picked up by somebody soon. One of the sane voices in the MSM.
jake 4 that 1
As I said in another thread, it’s going to suck when the Washington Times is the last daily standing.
But I’ll think of crap like this and laugh about it anyway.
I’ll also add now that I predicted the end when Howell tut-tutted everyone who got pissed when the first Liz Cheney op-ed appeared.
TR
Brilliant move, WaPo.
It’s so hard to understand why newspapers are dying.
JL
Froomkin has not said anything on his site yet. He’s a pretty classy guy so probably will go out with his head held high.
I just read the updates on Glenns post and it seems as though he did make a statement. He is truly a classy guy and Washington Post will miss him.
Napoleon
I bet they hire John You (aka John Yoo).
Joshua Norton
Maybe I’ll renew my subscription just so I can cancel it again.
JenJen
As I said in the other thread, I predict the title of Erick Erickson’s first WaPo “White House Watch” column will be, “Where’s The Birth Certificate?”
@JL: Something tells me Froomkin will say something, eventually, and that it will be damned interesting.
Zifnab
Maybe MSNBC can open up a slot for him.
But I don’t think this could have had anything to do with Fromkin’s political stance. I’m sure George Will, Charles Krauthammer, and Michael Gerson just suck better cock is all.
JGabriel
Hope it doesn’t take Froomkin too long to find a new position, assuming that’s what he wants. I can think of lots of places where Froomkin would be a good fit, or a good balancing voice – Salon, Slate, The Hill, TAP, Washington Monthly, Talking Points Memo, The National Journal, and especially The New York Times all come to mind.
How sweet would that be, if the Times hired Froomkin? “You can have Billy Kristol, we’ll take Froomkin.” Bwahaha.
On the other hand, I can see Froomkin deciding to take some time off and write a book instead.
.
Joshua Norton
They’re not dying, they’re committing suicide.
serge
Oh now that’s just shit…the paper of my childhood, the one that made us proud during Watergate, has jumped the last shark hurdle.
The ONLY reason I hit the bookmark for the WP has been to read Froomkin. Fuck ’em, fuck ’em all…(if you ever got a sandwich at Wisemiller’s just off the campus of Georgetown, and if you’re old enough to remember Granny Wisemiller, you may understand the reference).
Screw the WP. They’ve gone from preeminence to a turd in a single generation.
The Other Steve
Maybe he was linking to the New York Times a bit too much?
El Cid
Doesn’t REAL AMERICA deserve a column in the ultra-leftist super-Maoist black Panther Islamo-feminist surrender-crat paper the Washington Post, such as Chuck Norris?
Face
I hope they replace such a blatant left-wing blowhard with a careful, compassionate conservative like Sean Hannity.
Max
On the Twitter, the word is that Amanda Carpenter (grody) is on deck.
Jim-Bob
El [email protected]:
Boy, for a macho kung-fu action hero whose tears cure cancer (etc.), that Chuck Norris sure is SCARED of a lot of stupid shit.
TenguPhule
I can’t decide which statement is filled with more fail.
Bullsmith
I can’t say how pissed off I am about this. I took some tiny pleasure from dumping the WaPo bookmark in the trash, but not nearly enough. Their given reason (um, he’s a freelancer and we decided not to renew) is beyond pathetic. Klein and Sargent do good stuff online, but the WaPo’s just scum to me these days. Place has fallen so steadily and so far for years, it’s hard to believe what a good paper, and website, it used to be.
TenguPhule
It’s hard to jump the shark once you’re in its belly.
El Cid
@Max: This person? You’re shitting me — Froomkin’s out for a fucking freeper from the Moonie Times on wingnut welfare?
Have Hiatt and Diehl ever done anything but right wing / hawk / upper class shilling?
Why does the Washington Post with its tight budgets have to hire its own opinion columnists and bloggers? Why don’t they just reprint and link to Whirled Nuts Daily?
Bill E Pilgrim
Nice move. In the age of electing Barack Obama as President, the Washington Post goes in the other direction, joining the Republican party on its run to the far right. Wrong side of history, guys. Welcome to the race to oblivion.
Brachiator
Let’s see. Froomkin is by definition a “real journalist” because he is an Obama watchdog? Oh, please.
I don’t think I’ve ever read a Froomkin column, despite Greenwald’s assertion that that his column is one of the most trafficked. But now, I am at least mildly curious.
And if Froomkin was indeed popular, then the Post may be committing business suicide by not retaining him, whether or not they also keep conservative blowhards.
Col. Klink
I hate to keep saying this, but you forgot the ‘assholes’ tag.
Max
@El Cid: That is what the Twitter gods say… I believe it was tweeted by Arjun Jaikumar, DSCC
Steve M.
What Weekly Standard Intern Will They Hire
My money is on Matthew “Raised Like a Wingnut Veal” Continetti.
demkat620
They hired Amanda Carpenter? Isn’t she from Clownhall?
Well, she’ll fit right in with Kristol, Krauthammer, and Will.
They will not be content until the GOP is back in charge.
I’ll bet “We wuz robbed” is one of Fred Hiatt’s favorite phrases.
Col. Klink
Maybe the Post will go all out and hire those exceedingly talented Rightwing Dartmouth rapper dudes?
Anton Sirius
@TenguPhule:
Chuck’s still got nothin’ on Jon “False Prophet” Voight.
Rosali
Dan Froomkin continues to write for the Nieman Watchdog. It’s the website for the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard and is very good at dissecting media stories and getting to the heart of issues.
ninerdave
@Brachiator:
You missed out then. He was consistently excellent.
Comrade Darkness
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, they (meaning AEI and Cheney et al) have dirt from warrantless wiretapped calls on these editors and so what they say, goes.
Jon H
@Brachiator: “I don’t think I’ve ever read a Froomkin column, despite Greenwald’s assertion that that his column is one of the most trafficked”
It’s probably more than just an assertion. WaPo probably tracks their most-read and most-forwarded stories. NYTimes does.
dog's eye view
Already cancelled our 30-year subscription Washington Post subscription during Hiatt’s Scooter Libby defending days.
And have mostly stopped reading my alltime favorite local paper, despite the presence of Dana Priest and Anne Hull and Rajiv Chanderasekaran and (very few) other worthies.
What a sad end for a formerly very good paper.
Hiatt and his contingent are killing it.
Froomkin fired?
Fail.
henqiguai
@Jim-Bob (#16):
Hey ! That’s tae kwon do. I’ll not have you sullying the good name of kung fu with such nonsense (unless you’re talking the actual meaning of kung fu; i.e. “hard work”, ’cause Chuckles really did work hard at his craft). In which case, never mind.
MattF
I’d guess that saying Bad Things about Krauthammer was fatal. Who knows, Froomkin might have started fact-checking George Will.
pragmatic idealist
I’ve deleted my Wash Post bookmark; the hell with them. I guess they needed the money to hire more Bush shills.
linda
man, the wapo just keeps blowing chunks, doesn’t it. froomkin is one of the classiest, smartest writers the friggin post has. facts matter to him. as does honor and morality.
no wonder he’s no longer a good fit for the wapo.
i have no doubt he’ll end up at a better spot; he’s too talented not to.
JGabriel
Brachiator:
Isn’t Buffet a major WaPo shareholder? Might be time for him to either make some trenchant suggestions, like “Don’t fire your most read online columnists”, or divest.
.
GregB
Good news, The Washington Post has announced they will hire James Vonn Brunn as their new liberal columnist.
-G
The Grand Panjandrum
Jesus. Eugene Robinson and E.J. Dionne better watch their backs.
The list of people I want to outlive so I take a road trip just to piss on their grave grows longer by the day. (I’m looking at you Fred Hiatt, you needledick ratfucker.)
BTW does this name look familiar to anyone.
Brachiator
@ninerdave:
Fortunately, there appears to be some good Froomkin stuff at the Nieman Watchdog link, so I can play catch-up.
Even though Froomkin may have been stupidly targeted (despite his popularity), columnists may become intellectual roadkill as newspapers struggle to continue. Many of the syndication deals no longer make sense as circulation declines.
JL
Hiatt thinks that he can compete for the subscription base of Washington Times. Good luck with that. lol. The whackos have already identified the Post as part of the liberal media so they won’t join him no matter how many whackos they hire. He’ll only lose his base.
schrodinger's cat
@The Grand Pajandrum
Wow, I didn’t know that John Cole was so multi-talented.
The Grand Panjandrum
@schrodinger’s cat: I think Jane Coale needs to come clean, don’t you?
linda
just from a friggin business perspective, you have to wonder wtf they’re thinking. i hope the nyt takes him — seems an even swap — billy the bloodthirsty for dan.
schrodinger's cat
I agree, grandma Coale, tell us more about your life, we are all ears.
Tonal Crow
@Comrade Darkness:
Very likely true, and it explains a great deal, especially considering that Bush and Cheney didn’t pioneer warrantless spying. And when you combine warrantless spying with the virtually-unlimited number of criminal offenses defined by the U.S. Code and state codes, and with the very lax standards on what constitutes “probable cause” to investigate such offenses, you can only conclude that they’ve built something ideal for castrating pesky media.
Yeah, the TV is watching you. And your little cellphone, too!
Balconesfault
@demkat620: Googling Amanda Carpenter brings up, amongst other unreadable stuff, this
amusingdisgusting inclusion of her in a list ofmind rottingdistinguished female journalists.sturunner
Well, they did just hire Ezra Klein. I guess it’s their way of appealing to my nephews’ & nieces’ generation. None of them have ever had a landline, typed on a typewriter, or subscribed to a newspaper.
JL
@schrodinger’s cat: I would like to know when John realized that the “media was liberal” was just a scam run by Rove and the rest of the whackos. It reminds me how they were able to paint Kerry as a traitor rather than as someone who served our country honorably.
linda
@Comrade Darkness:
i so totally agree; and have thought that for years. just like i have no doubt that idiot son and cheney have their very own personalized collection of the torture tapes. wanna bet bushie kept saddam’s gun that he had tucked away in an alcove in the oval office. god, my hatred for those fuckers hasn’t abated one bit.
ninerdave
His column was online only I believe, but I tend to agree with your point.
Zuzu's Petals
@El Cid:
Hard to pick the most entertaining comment over there, but this one is priceless:
Bill E Pilgrim
@Zuzu’s Petals:
Jesus is returning with an army of aborted babies?
Wouldn’t this mean that they think abortion is a good thing then, providing all those soldiers?
It’s like they get their entire world view from comic books.
No, actually, it’s weirder than that. I mean that’s one weird graphic novel, if you ask me, being described there.
El Cid
Fighting aborted babies? Man, Jesus must be one sick MoFo. You’d think the babies had suffered enough being aborted, but now they have to be transformed into some hate-filled zombie army.
patrick
I’m hoping for J-Lo.
Ash
@patrick: Britney Spears would probably be better. Caters more to the WaPo’s demographic.
mcd
I left my thoughts for the WaPost here. You might, as well.
Bullsmith
S’Okay. The babies kill with love. (Actually with L.O.V.E. rays that shoot out their eyes- Laser-like organic villain exterminator)
I mean it is a Christo-wingnut graphic novel. Gotta have some heavenly high-tech weaponry.
Emma Anne
OT: People are pretty hard on Reason around here, so I thought I would provide this link to a hilarious article about the worst Time covers in the last 40 years (kids stabbing each other over Pokemon cards!)
http://www.reason.com/news/show/134038.html
This is when I like the libertarian energy – the “get a grip” attitude.
burnspbesq
If a thousand people agree to kick in $50 per quarter, we can set Froomkin up with an office and a couple of research assistants and an IT infrastructure and he can continue to rock and roll.
Where are the other 999 of you?
TenguPhule
Actually, they’re GANTZ cherubs.
burnspbesq
From a purely economic perspective, the best thing the Washington Post Co. could do would be to shut down the paper tomorrow. It’s a huge drag on the profitability of Newsweek and Kaplan.
Zuzu's Petals
@Bill E Pilgrim:
I know, the visual is tres disturbing.
Max Peck
@JL:
Rove didn’t start the Liberal Media meme. It started in the 70’s.
Little Dreamer
There are so few voices from the left. I think the right is so scared they will never gain another foothold in politics again unless they silence those few voices that we have.
Warren Terra
I suppose there’s a real question about whether there’s money to be made in internet opinion these days, since there’s so much of it around for free. And yet, it seems like most of the hardest-working events-and-opinion bloggers, the ones who post many times a day and do research and contact experts and politicians, are employed by a media outlet of one sort or another, like Froomkin, or Ezra Klein, or Steve Benen, or everyone at TPM. So for that sort of blog it seems like a media connection is critical, whether it’s because they need someone paying them or because the institutional veneer helps them get quotes, or just because those sorts of bloggers gravitate to serious outlets.
But that’s all abstract woolgathering: the WaPo has been buying more online opinion providers, with Slate and their recent hire of Ezra Klein (even if their infrastructure is lousy: I love Ezra’s blog, but now I have to sign in to the WaPo to comment?), so clearly they believe in employing reporting-based opinion bloggers. Just not Froomkin, who was one of the first and remains one of the most reliable and respected. Brilliant decision, Hiatt.
JL
@Max Peck: I stand corrected, thanks. He sure did use it to his advantage though when he was in the White House.
Wile E. Quixote
@El Cid
Zombie fetuses, piece a fucking cake. Look, everyone knows that once you’re zombified your reflexes and coordination turn to shit, so not only are we dealing with an enemy that doesn’t have a fully developed nervous system but we’re also dealing with an enemy who has an undeveloped nervous system that’s been zombified. I mean come on, most infants don’t start crawling until they’re at least six months old, and that’s without having nervous systems that have been zombified, and we’re talking about fetuses here, which can’t even crawl yet.
Anne Laurie
“But, but, she’s a guuuurl! If you object to Amanda Carpenter, it proves you’re a sexist!”
One of the Powerful Peoples’ favorite tactics against us revolting peasants is to find a token who’ll sell out their group interests for personal gain. That’s why Clarence Thomas is on the Supreme Court, after all. I guess we’re supposed to take some consolation in the fact the WaPo didn’t hire Megan McArdle.
Bullsmith
Yeah but these are holy fucking miracle guided by angelszombie fetuses. Move like squirrels. Climb everything.
ChrisB
@burnspbesq: 2 down, 998 to go.
Will
I only went to the WaPo for Froomkin & Meyerson. I don’t think Meyerson is enough to make me go back.
Nellcote
What a shockingly bad decision by the WaPo.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/white-house-watch/