Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

At some point, the ability to learn is a factor of character, not IQ.

They punch you in the face and then start crying because their fist hurts.

There is no compromise when it comes to body autonomy. You either have it or you do not.

You know it’s bad when the Project 2025 people have to create training videos on “How To Be Normal”.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

The arc of the moral universe does not bend itself. it is up to us to bend it.

People really shouldn’t expect the government to help after they watched the GOP drown it in a bathtub.

The media handbook says “controversial” is the most negative description that can be used for a Republican.

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

If you thought you’d already seen people saying the stupidest things possible on the internet, prepare yourselves.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

This country desperately needs a functioning fourth estate.

Wake up. Grow up. Get in the fight.

Let’s bury these fuckers at the polls 2 years from now.

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

With all due respect and assumptions of good faith, please fuck off into the sun.

SCOTUS: It’s not “bribery” unless it comes from the Bribery region of France. Otherwise, it’s merely “sparkling malfeasance”.

Do we throw up our hands or do we roll up our sleeves? (hint, door #2)

T R E 4 5 O N

Too often we confuse noise with substance. too often we confuse setbacks with defeat.

There are some who say that there are too many strawmen arguments on this blog.

These are not very smart people, and things got out of hand.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Good For Marty Baron

Good For Marty Baron

by | 76 Comments

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Marty Baron is going to retire at age 66.  His leadership at the Post turned it into the best paper covering US politics in the Trump era, in sharp contrast to the abject failure of the New York Times under Dean Baquet. “Democracy Dies in Darkness” is just one example of how the Post, under Baron’s leadership, understood the moment in a way the Times did not.

The Post’s coverage of the coup attempt was head and shoulders above any other news outlet, and my guess is that it will earn them another Pulitzer Prize.  The other thing notable about Baron’s retirement is that he’s leaving at 66, not 76, 86 or 96, like all the other people in power in that fucking town.  Good for him.

Reader Interactions

76Comments

  1. 1.

    Ruckus

    Power is a pretty shitty aphrodisiac for the subject people. It’s seemingly a rare person who has power and it doesn’t go to their head as an endorsement of their skills, or even worse lack thereof.

  2. 2.

    WereBear

    @Ruckus: Because we are talking about people who know nothing else but power: how they felt when it was wielded over them, and how they wanted nothing else so much as their own, gotten any way they could.

    Pure Authoritarianism, the bane of our species. It’s keeping people in a state of childish obedience.

    No advancement, only entropy and parasites sucking the life out of the culture.

  4. 4.

    Ruckus

    @cain:

    She isn’t a monster.

    And yes I’d like to see her retire.

    She has a pretty good record, and if you look at some of the people she’s run against over the years, she has been far better than I’d bet they would have been.

    And yes I’d like to see her retire. I wanted that 8 years ago. Everyone gets to a stage that they shouldn’t/can’t be working any longer, I think she’s past her’s.

  8. 8.

    Citizen Alan

    @Ruckus:  Funfact: Feinstein at 87 is the oldest Dem (and person) in the Senate. The 2nd and 3rd oldest Dems in the Senate? Patrick Leahy and Bernie Sanders at 80 and 79, respectively. Both of them are from a state with a Republican governor. Admittedly, a shockingly liberal Republican governor who would be viewed as a raving hippie liberal if he ran for office in the South, but still, a Republican governor. One wonders if calls for Feinstein to step  down in the middle of her term would be  as loud if she too would be replaced by a Republican.

  9. 9.

    MJS

    @Ruckus: The problem with many (not all, but many) of the people who stick around in positions of power well into their 70s and 80s is that they’re not actually working. They are not producing anything. They are figureheads, at best, whose role is to schmooze, or make pronouncements from on high. They really need to go, but they’re making too much money, and easy money at that.

  10. 10.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Ruckus:

     

    d that 8 years ago. Everyone gets to a stage that they shouldn’t/can’t be working any longer

    Ah–you’ve also been to a Stones/Zeppelin/AC/DC/Dylan concert in the last 30 years!

    @Ruckus:

     

    It’s seemingly a rare person who has power and it doesn’t go to their head as an endorsement of their skills

    So, for those of us who have neither power nor skills–we’re cool?

  11. 11.

    pacem appellant

    @Four Season Total Landscaping mistermix: that was my motivation for rewarding them with a subscription in 2021. So far, I’m pleased with my decision. NYT delenda sunt

    @Ruckus: DiFi is well past her sell-by date and it’s ruined her otherwise fine legacy. She’ll be remembered for her senility, not her accomplishments now.

  13. 13.

    Citizen Alan

    @MJS: Mississippi has had a succession of national politicians in my lifetime who were plainly too old and mentally addled to serve, but they kept getting sent back anyway. Jamie Whitten, John Stennis, Thad Cochran. I finally accepted that most  people  were voting for them because regardless of their  mental capacity, they would still have seniority,  and their aides would write the legislation anyway.

  15. 15.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Citizen Alan:

     

    I finally accepted that most people were voting for them because regardless of their mental capacity, they

    are white, racist republicans

  16. 16.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Citizen Alan:

     One wonders if calls for Feinstein to step  down in the middle of her term would be  as loud if she too would be replaced by a Republican.

    I’m pretty sure no one wonders this. If she’d be replaced by a Republican Senator, no one would advocate for her to leave midterm. They’d tell her to bow out at the end of her term instead but to relinquish all leadership roles in the meantime.

    The real question is “If Leahy was showing the same signs as Feinstein and would be replaced by a Democrat, would we ask him to leave?”

  19. 19.

    Elizabelle

    @Baud:    I don’t think Marty Baron would retire unless he knew he was going to be followed by a very good editor.  Why else hand over the reins?  I would hope he has a lot of say in who follows.

  21. 21.

    trollhattan

    @MisterForkbeard:

    Yeah, DiFi wasn’t going anywhere when Arnold was governor. (Dayumn, that was a long time ago.) We’ve had ten continuous years of Democratic governorship.

  23. 23.

    sanjeevs

    he’s leaving at 66, not 76, 86 or 96, like all the other people in power in that fucking town.

    Speaking of which, Sen Leahy has been hospitalized

  25. 25.

    WereBear

    @MJS:

    They really need to go, but they’re making too much money, and easy money at that.

     
    When it comes to DC, they are also SOMEBODY in the nation’s CAPITAL and how are you going to keep them down on the farm after living in the limelight?

  26. 26.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @sanjeevs: today? jeebus

    Manu Raju @mkraju· 24m
    Leahy spox: “This evening, Senator Leahy was in his Capitol office and was not feeling well. He was examined in the Capitol by the Attending Physician. Out of an abundance of caution, the Attending Physician recommended that he be taken to a local hospital.” He’s being evaluated

  33. 33.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Baud: interesting, I suppose he has time to change his mind if The Beast finally meets the odds of his cheeseburger-laden lifestyle

  34. 34.

    (((CassandraLeo)))

    @pacem appellant: obligatory* Latin grammar pedantry: If we’re treating NYT as a plural feminine noun, it should be “NYT dēlendae sunt” – adjectives pluralise alongside the nouns they are attached to, and sunt is the third-person plural of sum. (The gender should also match between noun and adjective.) If we’re treating it as a singular feminine noun, we’d just copy Cato the Elder’s original formation: “NYT dēlenda est.”

    (*Particularly obligatory since I’ve been using another variant of this phrase at the end of each comment I make for some two years.)

    In any case, I agree.

    On-topic: Marty Baron has done a fantastic job, I hope he enjoys his retirement, and I hope he’s gotten a good replacement.

    Cēterum cēnseō factiōnem Rēpūblicānam dēlendam esse īgnī ferrōque.

  36. 36.

    NotMax

    Blinken gets the nod.

    The Senate confirmed Antony Blinken as President Joe Biden’s secretary of state on Tuesday with overwhelming bipartisan support.

    …The vote to confirm him was 78-22. Source

  38. 38.

    Ruckus

    @Steve in the ATL:

    If you don’t have skills then natural selection kicks your butt to the curb. Sometimes.

    Hey it’s not a perfect world, not by any stretch of the imagination. Some of it is pretty damn good though.

  39. 39.

    evap

    When I lived in the DC area, 2013-15, I subscribed to the print version of WaPo since I like to support the hometown newspaper.  I really liked reading it every morning, so I now subscribe to the digital version even though I no longer live in the DC area.    A digital subscription is cheap if you have Amazon prime.

  41. 41.

    Baud

    Haha.  Poll on Ari’s show. Guess what percentage of Americans say they won’t get the vaccine.

  42. 42.

    dmsilev

    @Baud: No Republican is going to officially run for President until they figure out what T**** is planning to do. And he is …not noted for his consistency or long range planning

    The dilemma this poses the ambitious ones gives me great pleasure.

  44. 44.

    Ruckus

    @pacem appellant:

    I wholeheartedly agree. That’s why I wanted her out 8 years ago. But if you looked at who was running…….

    Who you do know vs the unknown or not good at all.

  45. 45.

    Sloane Ranger

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Dick Durbin just said on CNN that Leahey’s wife is with him. Apparently she’s a nurse and she said he’s doing well and they hope he’ll be back tomorrow.  No indication of what his specific symptoms were.

    As we’re talking age here, just to point out that President Biden ain’t exactly a spring chicken and he certainly seems to be full of energy at the moment. People age at different rates so I don’t think it’s right to declare someone is past it just because they’ve reached some predetermined chronological age.

  47. 47.

    Argiope

    OT due to excitement:  I gave my first 12 COVID shots today!  I’ve been in academic healthcare for about a decade now with little patient contact, but it turns out vaccinating folks is like riding a bike.  I volunteered with the Medical Reserve Corps, did some very easy online training, and today was supposed to be my first observation-only shift.  But I won the supervisors over with my air of warmth and competence so they let me do my first observed jab and then gave me a station for 30 minutes so I could spell an EMT for his lunch break.  It was  so rewarding to finally be able to kick this virus directly in the teeth by protecting elders in my area.  I would like to find a green balloon lapel pin just in case I end up vaccinating any jackals in the coming months.  I’ll be the one with two masks on coming at you with the sharp end!

  48. 48.

    Brachiator

    @Baud:

    Haha. Poll on Ari’s show. Guess what percentage of Americans say they won’t get the vaccine.

    Wouldn’t by chance be 27 percent?

  50. 50.

    PJ

    @dmsilev: I would actually think this would be a great time for an ambitious Republican to set themselves up as the anti-Trump.  In the short run, there may be no money or power in it for them, but the rest of the swine will be either begging to lick Trump’s balls or wishy-washy about distancing themselves from him, let alone condemning him, as they wait to see how things shake out.  Meanwhile, the anti-tax and anti-regulation billionaires are going to be anxious for someone sane and malleable to funnel support to, so that when Trump either keels over or gets sent to jail for the rest of his life, their man will be set to take over.

  53. 53.

    PJ

    @zhena gogolia: It’s funny how, if you build your party around having no principles beyond tax cuts for the rich and oppressing minorities, you wind up with nothing but grifters, traitors, and nutjobs.

  54. 54.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @zhena gogolia: kind of astounding how little influence he has with the party, but he’ll never leave it

    also hearing Mr Severely Conservative being called a moderate. He made Kris Kobach a national figure, didn’t he coin the phrase “self-deportation”? glibly (and very weirdly) announced he was going to double the size of Gitmo, indulged in a great deal of soft-birtherism (no one has ever asked to see my birth certificate! ha ha ha), used trump to make robocalls in IIRC MI, OH and PA. I’m sure there’s more

  55. 55.

    danielx

    @Baud:

    Right. Power corrupts but some must govern, in which case Brother Hawley will reluctantly scramble to the top of the heap. For the sake of the country, of course.

    ETA: plus he’s only 41. Plenty of time for him to run whenever Trump gets his pasty white ass out of the way.

  56. 56.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    @MJS: I think the gold standard was Jim Bunning. Clearly senile, he was wheeled in to vote however McConnell needed him to vote.

  57. 57.

    Argiope

    @debbie: Thanks!  Feels amazing.  The recipients were all so happy.  Warm fuzzies on all sides. Now we have to scale this all up very, very rapidly.

  60. 60.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    They’re reporting 45 Republicans voted against advancing impeachment in the Senate because – wait for it – they were worried about the constitutionality of impeaching a president that left office. Imagine that, if only there had been some way to convict him while he was still on office. And ya gotta laugh out loud about their concern for the Constitution now. They drover over it several times in a naked attempt to kill it but now they wanna visit it in the hospital all teary-eyed.

  65. 65.

    mrmoshpotato

    @PJ:

    It’s funny how, if you build your party around having no principles beyond tax cuts for the rich and oppressing minorities, you wind up with nothing but grifters, traitors, and nutjobs. 

    Yup.  It’s damn strange how it keeps working out that way.  They might consider a different approach.

    Narrator: They won’t.  The bastards.

  67. 67.

    VFX Lurker

    @Citizen Alan: Funfact: Feinstein at 87 is the oldest Dem (and person) in the Senate.

    Even more funfact: Feinstein does not hold the record as the oldest Senator to have served in our Senate. We wheeled 93-year-old Robert Byrd into the Senate to cast his much-needed vote for the ACA, and even HE doesn’t hold the record as oldest Senator.

    Feinstein’s had bad challengers from the left and right. I just hope the day she retires we get someone at least as good as Feinstein.

  68. 68.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @VFX Lurker: it was an open secret that Strom Thurmond’s staff was making all his decisions the last few years, as I recall. Per wiki he hung on long enough to celebrate his 100th birthday in office as a lame duck (12/2/02), Lindsey Graham having been elected to replace him the previous November.

  69. 69.

    Starfish

    @Steve in the ATL: I believe that Thad Cochran’s office helped my mom get her citizenship stuff done when it was stuck in some office during the GWB administration of make-sure-no-paperwork-happens-smoothly.

  70. 70.

    (((CassandraLeo)))

    @pacem appellant: Whoops, that’ll learn me to comment on my phone without rechecking the whole declension table. My memory had completely blanked on so many of the neuter plurals being identical to the feminine singulars – my fault for not using them recently. I still only know just enough of this language to be dangerous :P

    Cēterum cēnseō factiōnem Rēpūblicānam dēlendam esse īgnī ferrōque.

  74. 74.

    Soprano2

    Yeah, Hawley promised he wouldn’t use the MO Attorney General’s office to climb the ladder; in less than 2 years he was running for Senate. I don’t believe him for a second.

  75. 75.

    A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)

    @Nutmeg again: Spotlight is when I was introduced to Marty Baron (in the physical person of Liev Schriber).  The Post did great work under his leadership. I hope he has a happy, healthy retirement.  He has earned it!

  76. 76.

    tam1MI

    @Citizen Alan: Funfact: Feinstein at 87 is the oldest Dem (and person) in the Senate. The 2nd and 3rd oldest Dems in the Senate? Patrick Leahy and Bernie Sanders at 80 and 79, respectively. Both of them are from a state with a Republican governor. Admittedly, a shockingly liberal Republican governor who would be viewed as a raving hippie liberal if he ran for office in the South, but still, a Republican governor. One wonders if calls for Feinstein to step  down in the middle of her term would be  as loud if she too would be replaced by a Republican.

     

    Vermont replaces Senators who stepped down via special election, so the party their governor belongs to is irrelevant.

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