Our Media: Joe Klein Edition

This dustup is getting better and better . . .
Thers: Good Morning

Will it take Joe Klein as many years to realize he was wrong about Glenn Greenwald as it took him to realize he was wrong about John McCain?

John Cole: You Have to Be Kidding Me

Joe Klein on why Glenn Greenwald is not a serious person:

For the past several years, Greenwald has conducted a persistent, malicious campaign to distort who I am and where I stand. He is a mean-spirited, graceless bully. During that time, I have never seen him write a positive sentence about the US military, which has transformed itself dramatically for the better since Rumsfeld’s departure (indeed, he ridiculed me when I reported that the situation in Anbar Province was turning around in 2007). I have never seen him acknowledge that the work of the clandestine service—performed disgracefully by the CIA during the early Bush years—is an absolute necessity in a world where terrorists have the capability to attack us at any time, in almost any place. Nor have I seen [him] acknowledge that such a threat exists, nor make a single positive suggestion about how to confront that threat in ways that might conform to his views. Therefore, I have seen no evidence that he cares one whit about the national security of the United States. It is not hyperbole, it is a fact.

You have to love the sheer beauty of that baby, don’t you? Read it a second time. Klein is condemning Greenwald for what he HASN’T said. How awesome is that? I mean, if you get to condemn people for things they haven’t said, you can just make up any old shit and then smear someone. Why, I bet Greenwald has not recently stated that he loves the Humane Society. In Jokeline’s world, that is clear evidence that Glenn cares not a whit about animals. Even better, Greenwald may have even said all the things that Jokeline arbitrarily has decided he needs to say, but if Klein hasn’t seen them, well, the accusation still stands.

Additionally, how awesome is it that in order to prove you care about national security, you have to fellate the military, the CIA, and whenever a similar topic arises, gravely announce in a serious voice that you are very, very, serious about national security. Pretty weak, Joe. Pretty weak. This is the kind of crap that certain folks throw at Joe when they call him a self-hating Jew. You’d think Klein would recognize this kind of nonsense for what it is.

And the real reason Klein hates Greenwald is because Greenwald pointed out that he had no idea what he was talking about regarding FISA. For someone completely serious about national security (as we are to assume Klein is from that pompous snippet from an email), Klein sure didn’t know what the hell he was talking about nor did he bother to concern himself with the details.

Atrios: Game On

Funny.

...adding, the "pathetic woman acolyte" is aimai, granddaughter of I.F. Stone.

popping popcorn, and i hate popcorn

DougJ: aimai 1, Klein 0

Hey, the Greenwald “acolyte” Joe Klein mocked was longtime Balloon-Juice commenter aimai of No More Mister Nice Guy Blog (via Atrios)!

Last week I went to a cookout on the beach here with some old friends (Sausages and seafood, but no cocktail weenies!) Every year they do a cookout, and then a birthday party, and for years I’ve known that one of their guests was Joe Klein. I never mixed it up with him because, after all, well…the opportunity never presented itself and while I’m pretty aggressive in print no one really goes up to someone and picks a quarrel with them, do they?

Or maybe they do. Yes, I guess they do. I was standing at the cookout minding my own business when Klein started pontificating for the rubes on how “surprising” and “shocking” it was that Grassley, of all people, should have come out and endorsed the “death panels” lie. I walked up and said “why are you surprised?” [edited to remove typo] to which he, in best pundit debater fashion (never allow yourself to admit you were just posing!), shot back “who says I’m surprised?” I said “well, you did. You just started your lecture saying “Its surprising.”” Its not surprising, the republicans have nothing left to lose and nothing left to gain at this point outside of pleasing the crazy base and attacking Obama and the dems.”

We were off and running. He then said that its true the fringe republicans were “crazy” but perhaps no crazier than the “crazy left” under Bush….

Read the whole thing. I like the part where Klein says that Wikipedia is leftist.

Really. Read the whole thing at Joe Klein: Glenn Greenwald. Joe's piece is remarkably shallow and petty, and the comments are highly entertaining.

From BarbinMD's (Daily Kos) daily pundit roundup.:

Richard Cohen is a dumbass:

Attorney General Eric Holder has named a special prosecutor to see whether any of the CIA's interrogators broke the law. Special prosecutors are often themselves like interrogators -- they don't know when to stop. They go on and on because, well, they can go on and on. One of them managed to put Judith Miller of The New York Times in jail -- a wee bit of torture right there. No CIA interrogator can feel safe. The interrogators are about to be interrogated.

No one can possibly believe that America is now safer because of the new restrictions on enhanced interrogation and the subsequent appointment of a special prosecutor. The captured terrorist of my fertile imagination, assuming he had access to an Internet cafe, knows about the special prosecutor. He knows his interrogator is under scrutiny. What person under those circumstances is going to spill his beans?