The Nation: Altercation

Slacker Friday

Eric Alterman — 2009-07-10T11:16:03-04:00

Wrap-up: We have a new "Think Again" column called "Conflicts by the Rich, for the Rich," here . I also did a Daily Beast post on Palin's defenders on Sunday, which is here.

And I do recommend that if you have a few minutes free, you give them over to the Samminator, here. Those were the days, huh? On to Mr. Pierce. I also recommend if you have a few minutes, try to pick up a copy of 'Rolling Stone' and read the wonderful account of the life of Mr. Gregory Allman, it is a wonderful piece of writing. It's not online and I never heard of the writer, but trust me...

This Week on Moyers:

With almost twenty years inside the health insurance industry, Wendell Potter saw for-profit insurers hijack our healthcare system and put profits before patients. Now, he speaks with Bill Moyers about how those companies are standing in the way of healthcare reform. Potter spoke out against the industry for the first time last month, testifying before the Senate Commerce Committee he said, "Recently it became abundantly clear to me that the industry's charm offensive, which is the most visible part of a duplicitous and well-financed PR and lobbying campaign, may well shape reform in a way that benefits Wall Street far more than average Americans." Wendell Potter is a senior fellow on healthcare for the nonpartisan watchdog group Center for Media and Democracy, for which he writes a blog on healthcare reform.

Charles Pierce
Newton, MA

McNamara Memories

Eric Alterman — 2009-07-09T14:12:43-04:00

Wrap-up:

We have a new "Think Again" column called "Conflicts by the Rich, for the Rich," here.

I also did a Daily Beast post on Palin's defenders on Sunday, which is here. (Otherwise, I've been at the Shaw Festival at Niagara-on-the-Lake which I'll write about a bit next week.) Meanwhile:

Slacker Monday

Eric Alterman — 2009-07-06T13:27:03-04:00

Wrapup: We have a new "Think Again" column, picking up on the food fight between the 'Washington Post''s Dana Milbank and The Huffington Post's Nico Pitney and the larger issues we think it raises here, and my new 'Nation' column, "How Bold is Barack?" is here.

I did a celebratory column on Al Franken's victory for The Daily Beast here.

Oh and I appear to have started a twitter account, here, but don't get too excited about it yet.

Mikey 'n' Me

Eric Alterman — 2009-07-02T13:51:30-04:00

Wrapup: We have a new "Think Again" column, picking up on the food fight between the 'Washington Post''s Dana Milbank and The Huffington Post's Nico Pitney and the larger issues we think it raises here and my new 'Nation' column, "How Bold is Barack?" is here.

I did a celebratory column on Al Franken's victory for The Daily Beast here.

Oh and I appear to have started a twitter account, here, but don't get too excited about it yet.

Slacker Friday

Eric Alterman — 2009-06-26T11:16:43-04:00

Wrap-up:

We've got a new "Think Again" column called "Who's Jailing Journalists?" here in which we wonder, aloud, why the United States has joined the alleged Axis of Evil in jailing journalists without charge.

And I did a piece for the Daily Beast on "The Death of the Neocons" here.

Who's Jailing Journalists?

Eric Alterman — 2009-06-25T11:33:49-04:00

Roundup:

And I did a piece for the Daily Beast on "The Death of the Neocons" here.

Slacker Friday

Eric Alterman — 2009-06-19T13:02:19-04:00

Charles Pierce
Newton, MA.

Hey Doc:

"There's a man in old Pawtucket/Sells steamed clams by the bucket/So when I want clams in a bucket, I go to old Pawtucket/ 'Cause I'm a hungry man."

Mistah Kurtz, Continued

Eric Alterman — 2009-06-18T12:52:52-04:00

We've got a new Think Again column called "Chiller, Socialist Theater," about how Obama's turning us Commie, here and my new 'Nation' column is a tribute to the 50th anniversary of William Appleman Williams' Tragedy of American Diplomacy, here. Also, I did an analysis of Bibi Netanyahu's bait-and-switch speech for the Daily Beast here.

I was genuinely shocked by Howard Kurtz's defense of CNN in a 'Post' chat, not only because of its incredible lameness, but also because Kurtz did not disclose the fact of his being on CNN's payroll. I wrote a short note to Romenesko's letters column, which he printed, but did not make notice of on the site, so I sent a slightly different version of it to Andy Alexander, who recently became the 'Washington Post''s ombudsman. I have to say, I'm impressed with his response, which you can find here. What I like about it is not only that it holds Kurtz accountable, (and is generally friendly to me), but because it raises the larger issue of the 'Post''s unwillingness to disclose its conflict-of-interest policies. This is quite important, and goes to the heart of why large news organizations are losing the trust of readers, etc. But these organizations need to keep their options open to retain their big shots who don't like to follow the rules and so they don't want to codify their policies. (See under "Friedman, Thomas.") Alexander explains that the 'Post' policy is under review, which is to the good, but let's see if and when they publish it. He writes:

Readers such as Alterman are entitled to know the standards to which The 'Post' holds itself. In a column several months ago, I wrote:
Read More ...

Slacker Friday

Eric Alterman — 2009-06-12T17:31:19-04:00

Wrap-up: We've got a new Think Again column called "Sotomayor and SCOTUS, Captured on a Carousel of Time" about the punditocracy confirmation hearings here. And I did a post for The Daily Beast on the recent metzora-making of Joe "The Volcano" Lieberman here.

Alter-reviews:

Sal on 'Keep Your Soul: A Tribute to Doug Sahm'

Calling Mr. Colbert

Eric Alterman — 2009-06-11T11:38:18-04:00

We've got a new Think Again column called "Sotomayor and SCOTUS, Captured on a Carousel of Time" about the punditocracy confirmation hearings here.

And I did a post for The Daily Beast on the recent metzora-making of Joe "The Volcano" Lieberman here.

Now this...