Friday, June 13, 2008

Expanding Our Horizons

Why pick on Megan alone? Her friend & colleague Matthew Yglesias is not just a fabulous Atlantic Voices blogger, but a Published Author of something that caused the murder of trees for profit. And even more exciting, it's been reviewed in a once reputable paper, The Times of Los Angeles. (I know this only because old habits die hard, & I still get the local cage-liner to read on public transportation or while trying to wake up @ Starbucks.)

The review is here, but I'll be like Megan & just pick the part w/ which I especially agree.

"Like ostriches with their heads in the sand," Yglesias writes, the Democratic Party leaders "believed they could make the security issue go away by ignoring it, but instead they only made it easier for their adversaries to devour them." Their "short-sighted opportunism and inattention to basic principles would harm the party's long-term fortunes." The policy cost came with a war of choice that continues today. (Yglesias, like the Democrats he chastises, backed the war, and some of the ire he directs at pro-war Democratic politicians and policy experts seems to stem from a sense that they misled his more naïve self.)
We of course most agree w/ the parenthetical part above. Hee hee.

Dep't. of Fixed:
"Like a blogger w/ his head in his ass," Yglesias writes.

The reviewer doesn't refer to young Matthew making any mention of his own "liberal hawkishness" in the book, let alone an actual mea culpa. "I was as stupid as everyone else, but w/ the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, here's how they screwed up," may be Yglesias' theme. I'll leave it to stronger minds to read the book & let us all know.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Well, his book isn't selling: its the 25,068 best selling book at Amazon.com.

For comparison Glenn Greewald's relatively older book is #3,215.

Why, Matthew is almost in Jonathan Chait book sales land!