WaPo takes Josh Marshall’s advice

April 8, 2006

Remember the Ben Domenech brouhaha from a few weeks ago? The Washington Post decided it could achieve some kind of journalistic “balance” by hiring a 24-year-old Republican activist to write a blog that promotes conservative ideas to counter a professional journalist who’s written for several newspapers over the course of a sterling 18-year career.

Josh Marshall, at the time, offered the Post a hint about how the paper might appear less foolish.

If they want to make a blogger Crossfire with a firebreather on the left and on the right, they should do it. It might even be interesting. But here they’ve just been played by bullies and played for fools.

Apparently, the WaPo got the message.

This time around the Washington Post plans to hire two bloggers for its Web site.

The paper’s ombudsman, Deborah Howell, has informed RAW STORY that Jim Brady, executive editor of washingtonpost.com, is looking for a liberal blogger, along with a conservative one, to replace Ben Domenech who resigned after only three days of blogging, when his earlier writings were discovered by mostly liberal bloggers to be racially insensitive and — in multiple cases — plagiarized.

The paper doesn’t plan on making any formal announcement, but the news should be welcome to many critics on the left who felt that it was unfair to hire just a conservative blogger in the first place.

Now, was that so hard?

Dollars to donuts that the Post hires a rabid wingnut and a milquetoast “centrist” to represent the two sides of that argument.

The language of politics in the United States has been entirely debased by 30 years of Republican talking points, to the point that the “right” (identified with slavish devotion to the Republican platform) is now essentially dominionist, “center” is actually very far Republicanward, a true center is denounced as socialist, and center-left as pop-eyed slavering bolshevism. Hell, even Paul Krugman, vilified as a leftist by the Republican media apparatchiks, is a true pragmatic centrist (as opposed to the “cookie and a maiming” triangulators).

  • They should just hire two liberals. You can’t count on a conservative to say anything accurate nowadays.

    One could be a regular dude, like me; the other could be a knowledgeable person like CB, or someone to rep the literati.

  • Here’s an idea: what about one being what the Americans consider a liberal (i.e., a right-of-center tor even centrist ype with slight wit who makes a decent, humorous presence on TV or radio talks shows) and one being what the rest of the world considers a liberal (i.e., what we would consider a Marxist or a peacenik or an incredibly well-read intellectual or a creative genius or a nobel prize scientist or a Jesus-freak)?

  • ype = type, talks=talk — don’t blame my teachers, or the mother who taught her third-grade son to type well; subdural hematomas (hematomata? hematomae?) do strange things.

  • If he turns down the chance to run for senator from Minnesota, Al Franken would be an excellent choice for the left-side. Franken’s funny and he could still do his Air America gig.

  • Could we start a “Draft The Carpetbagger” campaign to get our favorite blogger the positioin at the WaPo?

    2nd choice could be the Rude Pundit, not because I agree with what he has to say, but he’s one of those that isn’t afraid of a written smackdown which could be highly entertaining.

  • That second line should say “position.” I taught myself to type so I have no one else to blame.

  • I don’t like the idea of “liberal” vs “conservative” bloggers because they will both just peddle their own biases and spin. Truth is more useful. What is needed are smart and witty people with good bull shit detectors who are not afraid to tear apart the nonsense coming out of the lips of all political hacks. I nominate Jon Stewart and Simon Cowel

  • re Eric: “I don’t like the idea of “liberal” vs “conservative” bloggers because they will both just peddle their own biases and spin. Truth is more useful.”

    Right on. I don’t know why the Post needs to get into partisan blogging at all. The only thing I want from the Post is thorough, objective reporting that cuts through spin and deception regardless of who utters it.

  • Could we start a “Draft The Carpetbagger” campaign to get our favorite blogger the positioin at the WaPo?

    Just for the record, no one at the Post has contacted me, and I don’t expect the call. But if I was offered one of the premier blogging opportunities in the country, I’d take it — just so long as I could bring the whole Carpetbagger community with me.

  • Contempt for their readership seems to be the WaPo’s stock-in-trade these days. As such, my magic 8-ball figures they’ll give the slot to a phoney-left msm columnist. Richard Cohen would be a good bet, as he is in-house, but any number of snide mainstream blogophobes would fit the bill. Anything to piss off and alienate their intended audience.

  • Does anyone know how to find Deborah Howell’s email address? Maybe if we emailed her and had her take a look at the Carpetbagger’s work we could get Steve in the running.

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