Joe Klein is the epitome of everything that is wrong with elite journalism.

He's clearly an intelligent man, and a fine writer but like so many people who have jobs that allow them to avoid the unpleasant realities of life, he never questions his own conclusions.

What do I mean? Well, certain forms of employment simply have no accountability, and where there is no accountability, you can never be wrong or mistaken, and if you are wrong or mistaken, its simply a matter of process, not actual flaws in reasoning or a false conclusion. That's why academics in the arts, journalists, teachers, union members and bureaucrats remain liberal way past their college years--perpetual adolescence.

Unfortunately, the party is coming to an end, at least for journalists. Thousands of idealistic young people intent on changing the world have found that the world has indeed changed, albeit not in the way they had anticipated and not at their hands. World changing has been the province of the hard science and engineering dweebs. D'oh!

As a result, guys like Joe are finding themselves at loose ends in what should arguably be the sweet spot of their careers. Joe shouldn't have to care what anybody thinks, but life is cruel that way. Young people with a small fraction of his experience and none of his resume are ruling the information roost. Nobody is reading Time magazine anymore and more and more people are reading the Daily Kos. Joe has started blogging (Swampland), trying desperately to ingratiate himself with the masters of the new world, and its been a rough go.

The next day, I was blasted by a number of left-wing bloggers: Klein screwed up! I had quoted Harman in the past tense—common usage for politicians who know their words will appear after a vote takes place. That was sloppy and... suspicious! Proof that you just can't trust the mainstream media. On Eschaton, a blog that specializes in media bashing, I was given the coveted "Wanker of the Day" award. Eventually, Harman got wind of this and called, unbidden, to apologize for misleading me, saying I had quoted her correctly but she had changed her mind to reflect the sentiments of her constituents. I published her statement and still got hammered by bloggers and Swampland commenters for "stalking" Harman into an apology, for not checking her vote in the Congressional Record, for being a "water boy for the right wing" and many other riffs unfit to print.

Its all so unfair, isn't it Joe?

In his day, Joe was "in the club." A liberal journalist among other liberal journalists, each reinforcing their essential righteousness and the "correct" world view. Unfortunately, liberal doesn't do it anymore. The new paradigm is far left and anything outside of far left is right wing.

Joe and his ilk have been snearing at conservatives for years, and now he's one of us!

Welcome Joe, you are a conservative, the nigger of the 21st century. Your choice now is to do what a lot of Democrat politicians are doing these days, simply abandoning any pretense at principles (like your friend Jane Harman) and "going along to get along". Ultimately, that is what the far left is about--a dystopian world of thoughtcrime and newspeak. Or, you can be a man, and quit your whining (whining is so unconservative man...)

Of course after reading this little gem...

Some of this is understandable: the left-liberals in the blogosphere are merely aping the odious, disdainful—and politically successful—tone that right-wing radio talk-show hosts like Rush Limbaugh pioneered.

...it appears that Joe might be suffering from ED.

Blaming Rush Limbaugh for the lunatic antics of the far left ignores the obvious--this is nothing new for the left. Its the same set of tactics, the same tone, the same everything the left has used since there was a left-wing. Hillary Clinton's Wellesley thesis was not in fact an analysis of Rush Limbaugh's "tactics", but of revered lefty Saul Alinsky. Remember this nugget?

"Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it and polarize it."

You used to be somebody Joe, now you are just pathetic. The left wants a bitch, not a "journalist" so you're going to have to decide which you want to be.