Tag: Frank Foer

Ken Tomlinson, the head of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, has taken much heat. There’s an argument to be had about his tenure there. And his efforts to inject politics into the institution might even make the case for privatizing public television. But Tomlinson has two jobs. In addition to CPB, he has run the Broadcasting Board of Governors-the board that oversees Voice of America, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Sawa, etc. Sadly, he has treated the BBG with the same well-documented tactics that he deployed at CPB. This is not good. The BBG stations should be critical instruments in the war on terror. For many years, they were run in bipartisan fashion. Under Tomlinson that spirit of cooperation has collapsed. I have just
written a piece about this for TNR.

posted by Frank.

First, they came for my airport, and I said nothing. Now, they’re trying to rename my main thoroughfare, 16th Street. The bastards want to make it Ronald Reagan Boulevard. I have much grudging respect for the Gipper. But the District of Columbia was one the few places to thoroughly reject Reagan’s reelection. They won’t let that drop. It’s seems they’ll keep forcing the Great Leader’s name on us until we recant our decision in the 1984 election.

By the way, a big shout out to Tom Davis, for having the sense to stick up for DC on this one.

posted by Frank.

Yes, blogs can create nice communities. (Thanks, by the way, for your hospitality this week.) Yes, blogs can help provide an important check on powerful (and sometimes irresponsible) media. Yes, blogs can help you sell your book on soccer when links to amazon are embedded in superflous sentences. But let’s not get too excited about the blogosphere’s political and social importance just yet. As this study shows, the audience for blogs is comparatively small for now. Therefore, I’m not so ready to say that this medium will revivify American democracy. True, it allows many people to rant, blowing off steam that might otherwise turn into dangerous passions. But, if we’re speaking calmly, it seems the blogs greatest contribution is to slightly expand the elite political discussion. For a long time, the circulation of opinion journals like TNR and NR had stagnated. But the biggest political blogs have expanded the readership of opinion to an audience that goes beyond those magazines. What does this mean? For starters, people want political opinion, but aren’t willing to pay for it. (Andrew’s gnarled fingers bleed in the production of opinion and you won’t pay, ungrateful swine!) Or possibly people have shortened attention spans. They’ll sit for the length of this post (are you still with me?), but they’re too busy and too ADD to sit for a 7,000 word essay in the Atlantic. If blogs lead people further into a world of political ideas, well, color me a booster. If the evidence shows that they come at the expense of other forms of reading, then let’s get hysterical.

By the way, I’m disappointed by the New York Times editorial on blogging. It really says nothing. The Times should be vociferously attacking the blogosphere. Blogging deserves a loyal opposition.

posted by Frank.

Make Ryan Lizza a special prosecutor. He has no problem ferreting out the sources of leaks. This is a classic piece demystifying a venerable trope of White House reportage.

posted by Frank.

Washingtonians have a unique term of art to describe migrants from the rural South-or possessors of the migrant mindset-who don’t quite get urban living. They are known as “Bamas.” Remarkably, decades after the last major wave of migration, rural ways of life continue to persist in the heart of the city. George Pelacanos, Washington’s great crime novelist, has occasionally evoked this in his vast oeuvre. Characters will travel through a neighborhood and notice chickens in a front yard. A piece in the WaPost’s local weekly insert describes how large chunks of the city continue to rely on gardens for fresh vegetables. In part, the explanation is troubling. Supermarkets simply don’t exist in certain poorer sections of the city. Although the piece doesn’t get into the cultural history of the city, it also yields a charming conclusion. People grow their own greens, because old ways die hard.

posted by Frank.

Newt Gingrich knows something about the politics of midterm elections. So, chin up Democrats. On the other hand, that impeachment business played out just as he planned it.

posted by Frank.

Newsweek’s cover on the “new drug crisis” hit the stands on Monday. That’s when I hit start on the stopwatch and began counting down to the Jack Shafer piece debunking it. Be sure to read all the way down to his riff on “meth mouth.” Full point, Mr. Shafer.

posted by Frank.

I’m a Washingtonian. This is, all in all, a wonderful thing, except that for many years it denied me the pleasure of a home baseball team. As a child, this meant adopting the nearby Baltimore Orioles. And for a time, this relationship served me well. But then, when puberty and political awareness hit, I began to feel less than comfortable with the team. In part, my alienation was cultural. Baltimore plays “Thank God I’m a Country Boy” during the 7th inning stretch. At that moment, I wasn’t clear on my belief in God, but I was certain about the fact that I’m no country boy. Then, team owner Peter Angelos began to sacrifice the soul of the club. Namely, he bought a goon named Albert Belle to the team. This purchase caused my entire world view to explode. How could I argue the Orioles’ moral superiority when they had Belle? I couldn’t. That year marked the beginning of my long divorce from Baltimore. The pace of our separation has accelerated rapidly with the arrival of the entirely loveable Washington Nationals. To establish our identity as Nats fans, we have had to agressively distance ourselves from our neighboring fans. More to the point, we need to despise them and foment a rivalry with them. Angelos has stirred this pot by conspiring to keep the Nationals off television. (A long story that I won’t get into here.)

In other words, I take some pleasure in watching the Rafael Palmero crisis unfold. I hope that it redounds against the Orioles, and I hope that the Nats sweep the Birds next year in interleague play. Amen.

posted by Frank.

I’d be a bad steward of this blog if I didn’t post this chilling story about prisoner abuse.

posted by Frank.

The Daily Kos, a liberal blogger who has acquired a strange prestige within Washington, has a plan for destroying the DLC. How good is Kos’s plan? So good he won’t reveal it for a whole four weeks. Now, that’s hardball, Kos! Let them sweat for a while before landing the jab.

Before Kos goes nuclear against the DLC, perhaps he might to want to consider a few things. First, he should check out DLC president Bruce Reed’s funny, erudite blog on Slate, chock-full of devastating Bush bashing. Then he should compare it to his own. Do you really trust yourself to do a better job guiding the Democrats than Reed? Is that guy really the enemy within? Next, Kos should consider the modern history of the Democratic Party. Does he really believe that the pre-DLC Mondale-Jackson strategy was working so well? I’m not blindly or wildly pro-DLC, but the answers to the questions seem blindingly obvious to me.

Yes, the DLC had a problem with Howard Dean in the primaries. Their critique had nothing to do with corporate money, and everything to do with a real fear that Dean would get his ass kicked by Bush. Get over it, man.

posted by Frank.