The New Republic has been airing its suspicions of the Daily Kos apparatus, which may or may not be running what TNR publisher Marty Peretz has characterised as an 'ideological censorship bureau'. Based on some reporting from New York Times Opinionator blogger Chris Suellentrop (TimesSelect) and Jason Zengerle at TNR, it appears that blogger hero and Mark Warner aide Jerome Armstrong is entangled in an SEC investigation for allegedly hyping stocks fraudulently. This was followed-up by Zengerle who went into some detail about the blogosphere's 'smoke-filled backroom', which is really nothing more than a listserve of some 'elite bloggers' who have discussed how to respond to the Armstrong mini-scandal. There is also the issue of Kos' involvement with Advertising Liberally, which may or may not financially punish bloggers who stray too far from the company line (as deigned by the Kos, et al). So, following Zengerle's post, Kos responds hysterically, in turn prompting Jonathan Chait and now Marty Peretz to, essentially, make fun of him (he's 'illiterate') and his so-called movement. Kos refuses to engage intellectually with the arguments, electing instead to harangue TNR for selling its soul to the neo-cons. We must, says Kos, cancel our subscriptions to TNR. There is something fascist about Kos, I think. Also, self-aggrandizing and basically asinine (Consultants are bad, unless I'm doing the consulting; media is bad, unless we're the media, etc). I understand the need to maintain coherence and unity, but then again, I thought the point of blogging was to engage variously with various points of view. In the event, I imagine the reference to the 'neo-cons' is linked to TNR's initial support of the Iraq war.
I don't really care about any of this. Pissing contests are always mildly entertaining, but there is little doubt as to who is going to win this one. What amuses me is this: It was Peter Beinart, one-time editor of TNR, who made the case for that magazine's support of the war. However much Kos is troubled by the machinations and duplicity he sees with the 'smart kids' at TNR, of which Beinart would surely qualify, he doesn't seem sufficiently bothered to remove Beinart's appreciative plug for Crashing the Gate, which stands proudly at the top of the Daily Kos website.
–mpd
Technorati Tags: Daily, Kos, Markos, Moulitsas, Jason, Zengerle, Marty, Peretz, The, New, Republic, TNR, Jerome, Armstrong, SEC, Blogs
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Marginal Footnotes 
If you actually didn’t care about this, then why are you trying (and failing, I might add) to defend TNR, and visiting my blog to drop a comment?
Zengerle has already been proven to be a liar. He published a story with a fake e-mail and used three sources that lied to him (read Glenn Greenwald’s piece here).
As if that weren’t bad enough, another TNR writer and the owner then decided to take the low road and engage in vicious personal attacks against Moultisas and the ENTIRE blogosphere with their own pieces. If you think someone is behaving in a shrill manner, topping their shrillness isn’t a way to establish your moral or intellectual superiority on an issue, and yet that’s how TNR has decided to behave.
Your bit about Beinart is really absurd. A former TNR writer plugged the book before TNR went on this bizarre jihad against Moulitsas and the blogosphere, and that’s supposed to mean something?
It’s obvious that you can’t defend TNR’s bad journalism or vicious behavior, so you try to use a “gotcha!” that doesn’t amount to anything.
Comment by Gideon S. June 24, 2006 @ 5:15 pmshrill? who’s shrill here?
cheers,
Comment by mpd404 June 24, 2006 @ 5:43 pmme.
shrill? who’s shrill here?
I was referring to the shrill manner in which Siegel and Meretz have behaved; I think you need to develop your critical reading skills.
I’m still waiting for you to defend Zengerle’s fraudulent piece. I’m also waiting for TNR to defend it, instead of trying to put its critics on the defensive as a distraction.
Comment by Gideon S. June 24, 2006 @ 6:51 pmthey are terrible, aren’t they, my critical reading skills?
Comment by mpd404 June 25, 2006 @ 1:58 pm