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The Village Bloggers

John Cole takes exception to my labelling of Ezra Klein as a Village Blogger. He does this in the context of Charles Lane's attack on Ezra's attack on Joe Lieberman.

I think John misunderstands my point. The Washington Post editorial page, the Weekly Standard, Marty Peretz's wing of The New Republic are part of the Neocon Village. Obviously, Ezra is not a part of that. But there is a different Village in Washington as well. It is the Village that went after Matt Taibbi (who I personally do not care for. See Yglesias and Ezra going after Taibbi.) It is the Village that defends Obama and his people - see Ezra defending Rahm.)

My point is not to delegitimize what they do. Much of it is good and much of it I agree with. Rather it is to put what they do in the proper context. They are not "progressive bloggers" as the term is generally understood (neither am I.) They are tied to Establishment DC Dems and express their views from that perspective. It is an important function, indeed, a bridge between two distinct camps. But it is important to recognize they are in different camps. I try to highlight that fact.

Speaking for me only

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    Was the health care reform debate (none / 0) (#1)
    by lilburro on Tue Dec 15, 2009 at 08:57:43 AM EST
    helped by Ezra being at the Washington Post, or hurt by it?  He's a knowledgeable guy and can lay out a (good or bad) argument.  But him being at the Post allowed WH officials and others to cite him as some great authority.  And they frequently cited his most pernicious arguments.

    John Cole of course only thinks about whether the right wing can chalk up a "win."  He doesn't care much about policy and doesn't see that the big "win" is going to be if what's on the table, that Ezra supports, passes.

    imo (5.00 / 1) (#2)
    by Big Tent Democrat on Tue Dec 15, 2009 at 09:02:29 AM EST
    Hurt.

    Precisely because he was viewed as a "progressive public option" supporter when he was nothing of the sort.

    He became the Left Flank of the debate.

    It is precisely why I devoted so much time to his writings.

    Parent

    Yup. And thanks for doing it. (none / 0) (#6)
    by oldpro on Tue Dec 15, 2009 at 12:06:40 PM EST
    I look at it as one big Village (none / 0) (#3)
    by ruffian on Tue Dec 15, 2009 at 09:15:41 AM EST
    of establishment media. They all act the same way regardless of political affiliation:  
     - access to power is paramount
     - despite this access, their commentary is usually 1-2 days behind events on the ground
     - their opinions come from eachother

    Yes, and many seem to be (none / 0) (#4)
    by KeysDan on Tue Dec 15, 2009 at 10:03:19 AM EST
    socialized to the extent of Village-wide jargon, such as "on the ground", "out there", and, of course, the Obama preface to all things: "well, look..".

    Parent
    You forgot (5.00 / 1) (#5)
    by jbindc on Tue Dec 15, 2009 at 10:28:22 AM EST
    "It's obvious..."

    Parent