The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Election ’08: Virtual High-Fives and Online Obamagasms for Journolist

Posted on | July 21, 2010 | 7 Comments

As previously noted, the Daily Caller must have the complete Journolist archives, and now they share the unsurprisingly ecstatic Election Night reactions from?progressives.

UPDATE: Instapundit has been a one-man aggregator of all things Journolist the past couple of days. James DeLong’s point that reporters on the list might be accused of “hijacking” the publications that paid their salaries is solid.

That everybody and his dog is currently commenting on this story is one reason I haven’t done much blogging on the subject.

UPDATE II: My American Spectator colleague John Tabin:

Particularly disturbing is Spencer Ackerman saying it’s a good idea to hurl bad-faith accusations of racism. . . . We’re talking about a guy who was fired from The New Republic after starting a blog called “Too Hot for TNR” to denounce his employer. He then took a flamethrower to all his bridges by airing gripes about all his coworkers.

Think about a kid fresh out of college who lands a job at The New Republic — a real plum gig, starting out the career climb so far above the lower rungs of the journalism ladder — and then bites the hand that feeds him, so as to get fired within two years for insubordination.

This kind of arrogance, which transcends political categories, is quite common among young writers. They are very aware of their own intelligence and abilities, but fail to recognize that brains and eloquence are no substitute for knowledge and experience. Having previously succeeded spectacularly by virtue of superior IQ, they resent having to “pay their dues” doing journalistic scutwork and become impatient for glory. The Internet (and especially blogging) makes such glory-seeking  easier and, by the time the Young Turk wises up to his errors, he’s burned more bridges that Sherman’s Army.

Comments

7 Responses to “Election ’08: Virtual High-Fives and Online Obamagasms for Journolist”

  1. Randy Rager
    July 21st, 2010 @ 5:27 pm

    What, no utter lying whinging bullshit comment from gg yet?

    I’m crushed.

    Do you not yet love us, you pustule, you catahrr, you staph infection on the sphincter of humanity?

  2. Randy Rager
    July 21st, 2010 @ 1:27 pm

    What, no utter lying whinging bullshit comment from gg yet?

    I’m crushed.

    Do you not yet love us, you pustule, you catahrr, you staph infection on the sphincter of humanity?

  3. ECM
    July 21st, 2010 @ 8:33 pm

    Please comment on this subject: if I read one more, NR-like, take on this being ‘no big deal’, I’m going to start throwing things.

  4. ECM
    July 21st, 2010 @ 4:33 pm

    Please comment on this subject: if I read one more, NR-like, take on this being ‘no big deal’, I’m going to start throwing things.

  5. The Daily Caller just proved it’s usefulness « Blog de KingShamus
    July 21st, 2010 @ 6:41 pm

    […] Via the great Robert Stacy McCain. […]

  6. Estragon
    July 22nd, 2010 @ 7:12 am

    It is worthy of note that the J-List included very many supposedly respected journalists and academics. Even those who didn’t actively advance the vitriolic partisanship effectively condoned it with their silence (assuming they found it at all objectionable, which is a fact not in evidence).

    This should drive the final stake through the heart of the myth of “objective journalism,” a standard which was never truly achieved – and that was abandoned even as a goal to be aspired to around the time Nixon won reelection. These people are leftist propagandists, and NOTHING MORE.

  7. Estragon
    July 22nd, 2010 @ 3:12 am

    It is worthy of note that the J-List included very many supposedly respected journalists and academics. Even those who didn’t actively advance the vitriolic partisanship effectively condoned it with their silence (assuming they found it at all objectionable, which is a fact not in evidence).

    This should drive the final stake through the heart of the myth of “objective journalism,” a standard which was never truly achieved – and that was abandoned even as a goal to be aspired to around the time Nixon won reelection. These people are leftist propagandists, and NOTHING MORE.