Friday, January 19, 2007
is it all right? really? is it working?:
Back in the summer, during the Israeli war on Lebanon, I noticed that TNR ran a Leon-penned editorial that asked, "Will the West finally get ruthlessly serious about Iran?" Stunned, I went into the office of a colleague at TNR and said that the magazine was laying the editorial groundwork for endorsing a future military action against Iran. This colleague, whose judgment I continue to respect, called me a paranoiac and told me not to bother him the next time I wanted to grasp at straws for my conspiracy theories. It was disappointing, but I agreed.

Via Matt, I see that it took about six months. Marty promises that in the next issue or so, "
we are running an article by Oren and Yossi Klein Halevi on Iran's nuclear capacity, and what should be done about it." Neither Oren nor Yossi have any particular expertise on nuclear weapons. They do have a history of urging wars on Israel and the United States, and of conflating the national interests of the two countries. Frank, I know I'm not your favorite person, but for God's sake, ask yourself: Is this is a responsible thing to run? Have you already begun writing the apology, slated to run in 2011, for endorsing the Iran War?


--Spencer Ackerman
Spencer, you ask good questions, but I'm sure you've noticed by now that TNR is doing everything possible to pretend you don't even exist. I have yet to read any article or blog post by TNR mention you by name since you've left. Strangely enough, they have no problem with talking about Matthew Yglesias. It's like there's a proxy war going on between you and TNR where any time they disagree with you, they do so by disagreeing with Matthew Yglesias.
Blogger Dan the Man | 11:58 AM

Well, they can do what they want, and if they want to not reply to me on the blog, I understand the reasoning there.
Blogger Spencer Ackerman | 12:15 PM