Spreading the Blame

Kathy, one of Ezra’s guest bloggers, gets hyperbolic over the supposed evil of TNR:

The New Republic’s 25-year jihad against liberalism has had dire consequences for this country, and the world. Under this administration, we have seen the needless and tragic annihilation of one of the great American cities. We’ve seen economic inequality soar to near-record levels. We’ve seen a Supreme Court habitually given to reactionary reversals of long-settled doctrines, like Brown v. Board of Education. We’ve seen a religious right sufficiently emboldened to broaden its anti-abortion campaign and start targeting a woman’s right to birth control as well. We’ve seen global warming develop apace, with our leaders making zero serious efforts to control it. We’ve seen a dangerously ignorant and frighteningly out-of-control chief executive who seemingly delights in pissing all over the Constitution at any opportunity.

Well, I’d blame conservatives and the Bush administration for most of these ills, but that’s just me. More importantly, of all the times to bash TNR, NOW IS NOT THE TIME.  They are trying to make a deliberate, concerted move to the left under Frank Foer.  His fist editorial was in favor of universal health care.  Jon Chait is one of the best leftie economic policy writers out there and Jon Cohn is the best health care writer not named Ezra Klein.  Judis is a muscular, aggressive liberal who’s unafraid to go after conservatives and Michael Crowley is one of the better straight journalists employed by Washington magazines.  So yes, a lot of what Marty Peretz, Jamie Kirchik and Benjamin Wittes write may be objectionable, but Marty and Jamie have their own carve out of the magazine while Wittes isn’t a staff writer and his articles aren’t necssarily the official editorial line.  To hyperbolically vilify TNR when they’ve editorialized in favor or mandated vacation time and universal health care, savaged William Kristol, gone after Big Pharma and a host of other explicitly liberal moves can only be described as vindicative and petty.  Shouldn’t we be welcoming TNR’s turn to the left, instead of looking to the past and their occasional counter intuitive silliness as if we want to hate them?  Let’s look for converts, not heretics.