My third mistake was less profound: My remarks opened the door for misinterpretation, especially by left-wing bloggers. Within hours, The Nation's perpetually intemperate Eric Alterman was "reporting" that I'd come out in favor of "nuking Iran." Which opened the door for another tedious chorus of "Klein Is not a liberal" and other, more mangy imprecations. Let me give credit where it's due: I probably would not be writing this were it not for all the left-wing screeching. The Stephanopoulos moment came and went ephemerally, as TV moments do, leaving a slight, queasy residue -- I knew that I hadn't explained myself adequately, but that happens a lot on television. So thanks, frothing bloggers, for calling me on my mistake. You can, at times, be a valuable corrective.
Well, at least it's good to know that Joe doesn't think that nuclear first strikes are really a good idea, you just want to keep a crazy glint in your eye for the enemy. A funny thing happened on the way to his mea culpa, though, as Mr. Klein gets sidetracked by an anti-blogger rant because we actually had the gall to call bullshit.
At other times, though, your vitriol just seems uninformed, malicious and disproportionate. You seem to believe that since I'm not a lock-step liberal -- and we can talk about what a liberal actually is some other time -- I'm some sort of creepy, covert conservative. Of course, most conservatives consider me a liberal. I call myself a moderate -- a radical or flaming moderate, take your pick -- because in this witlessly overheated political environment, you've got to call yourself something. But the conservatives do have a point: I disagree with Ronald Reagan's famous formulation, "Government is part of the problem, not part of the solution."
Well, since I'm all for giving credit where it's due, I'll at least congratulate Joe for realizing that the governing philosophy of modern Republicans isn't worth much more than a flabby hunk of whale shit. Crack the champagne bottles, folks! Joe Klein believes we should have a government that does things! Apparently this qualifies him as an open-minded liberal of some kind, despite his usual approach of resident "liberal" Republican apologist. For the money quote of the jackass, however, we have to turn here:
George W. Bush has proven that governing from the right can't work; but governing from the left won't work either. The only way that real change -- a universal health-care system (along the lines enacted by Mitt Romney in Massachusetts), a real alternative energy plan, progressivity in taxation and entitlement reform, a cooperative non-toxic foreign policy--will come is through coalitions built from the center out. And those coalitions will only flourish in a public atmosphere of civility, humanity and compromise.
Uh huh, so apparently that magical center that is so well-informed as to the latest Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie happenings will magically give us every progressive idea out there that comes from, well, the left. Odd that ideas the jackasses at Redstate would call socialist are going to materialize from the center, but then again, I don't live in Joe Klein magical happy land. Apparently in that world, bending over and telling George W. Bush and Rupert Murdoch, "PLEASE SIR MAY I HAVE ANOTHER!" helps to foster civility, humanity, and compromise. Good story, but alas, I live in America circa 2006, which is anything but magical happy land (except in George W. Bush's head of course, but that's a diary for another time).
Anyway, not exactly brainbuster style analysis here, just wanted to give you all a Lewis Black style, "hey, look at what the jackass just said."
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