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Momma said wonk you out

MY LAST POST AT TAP.

0605.jpg"It's not a goodbye post," a friend just said to me. "It's a 'see you later' post." And that's probably true. This will be my last real blog post at The American Prospect. This site will go dark for the rest of the week. On Monday, it will move to the Washington Post (the archives will remain at this address). The new URL will be http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/. I'll see all of you then. It'll go by quick. Just you watch.

But today does mark an end. I've been at TAP for almost four years. I moved to Washington, DC in September of 2005 to take the writing fellowship. The next year, I became a staff writer. The year after that, an associate editor. I've seen three editors, two offices, and four writing fellows. I've shared a cubicle with Matt Yglesias and a hotel room with Mark Schmitt. I've spent long nights at The Black Rooster. I have stolen candy from Richard Boriskin's candy bowl and I have stolen candy from Ann Friedman's candy bowl. I've written dozens of features, around a hundred columns, and thousands of blog posts containing literally millions of words. And there's not been a day that I haven't been proud to work here.

That's true, of course, because of the magazine's politics. But also because of its approach. The Prospect is one of the few unrepentantly wonkish outfits in existence. It's one of the few magazines where I could've pitched a profile of Congressional Budget Director Peter Orszag -- this was before he became a star, mind you -- and been given the enthusiastic go-ahead. My editor's particular interest in the piece was the opportunity to explore the importance of the budget scoring process. In the editing process, we actually cut the glitzy stuff about Orszag's tilt towards behavioral economics.

Pause on that for a minute. The Prospect, to its credit, has always rejected the idea that readers wouldn't be interested in something even though it was important. To be fair, that's a product of our business model: A non-profit isn't dependent on advertising revenue, and so can take chances that a for-profit can't. But the Prospect's model has not been disproven. Quite the opposite, I think.

The Obama era has been a period of policy. Of substance. The drama is in the budget, the composition of the stimulus bill, the survival of the banking system, the inclusion of a public plan, the fight over climate change. It's not that we've put away childish things. Rush Limbaugh's name, for instance, is still in the news. But we've also learned to pay attention to adult things. The Prospect has been doing that for almost two decades now, and they provided me with a home to do the same. And the Prospect was right. Turns out that you can build an audience with charts and graphs and hearings and budget commentary. The words "reconciliation," "nationalization," and "community rating" do not scare readers away. Scatterplots do not harm your traffic. Indeed, the Washington Post is asking me to cover the same topics in the same way at their site. But I would never have had this opportunity, or been able to build this model, without TAP -- both the space it gave me and the guidance it provided me. I'll be forever grateful to it.

Which is why, even though I'm leaving, I urge you to stay. That's not to say you shouldn't immediately bookmark my new blog and check it obsessively every day. It'll have that same great Ezra taste, but with more resources around to make my charts look pretty. But make sure Tapped is on your blogroll, too. And make sure you're receiving the American Prospect magazine at home. And make sure you're checking out the homepage every morning. Keep an eye on the place for me.



COMMENTS

When I first glanced at the headline, I was terrified momentarily that I might have to find another twenty-something wonkish blogger to follow...glad you'll still be blogging :) Phew!

We'll forgive you if there are no posts that feature Fred Hiatt as Wanker of the Day, but not if you go soft on George Will.

Good luck with the move!

This is so sad. I so enjoyed reading you in the print version of Prospect.

But, there is an upside which cannot go unmentioned:

NO MORE CRAPPY-ASS COMMENTING SOFTWARE.

Oh, sad. I'm not sure if I can transfer my irrational blogger crush from TAP to WaPo. We'll see, won't we? Good luck!

And would you please talk to your now-former co-blogger Dean Baker about Social Security?

Sorry Erza, lie down with dogs and you wake up with fleas.

You will discover that it is impossible to write the kind of stories you have done in the corporate atmosphere of a (failing) big media newspaper.

I'm sure it is a good career move from a financial standpoint, but you will end up defanged and co-opted. Perhaps you will realize your mistake in a few years, one can always hope...

don't become a wanker
let Yglesias be the new media Broder
kick one of the following in the nuts: Cohen, Hiatt, Samuelson or Will

Are you moving to 10pm?

NO MORE CRAPPY-ASS COMMENTING SOFTWARE.

You must never have been to a WaPo comments section. The humanity....

Congrats, Ezra, and best wishes. "See" you on the other side.

Dont let cesspool of WaPo destroy your moral/political compass.

Society rewards tbe brown nosers, but history rewards the principled and the skeptical.

Good luck.

Best wishes, Ezra. You've earned a broad audience and perhaps WaPo will offer that. It quite likely provide some additional creds to get access and get answers from the insidery DC oligarchy.

Congrats and see you over at WaPo. Don't let them ruin you.

blessings always, ezra.

G-d is a gift to us.
what we make of ourselves,
is a gift to G-d.

good luck, ezra! we'll be looking forward to even more greatness to come from your new post.

"The Obama era has been a period of policy. Of substance."

Thanks for providing us all with one last laugh.

I look forward to the day we can replace "Broderism" with "Ezraism".

Just to affirm you're one of the best among the blogosphere. Please...please...keep hanging out with TAP types and insulate yourself as much as possible from the culture of the Washington Post.

good luck. congratulations. i'll miss you at tapped. are you still gonna write about food every once in awhile?

You're definitely one of the greats. Who else makes wonkiness so interesting and, indeed, funny, on such a regular basis?

But in that spirit of curiosity, why the three day break? It seems like the week when you need your audience to move to a new URL would be the worst week to take off.

I followed you from Pandagon to your own blog, and from your own blog to here. I might as well follow you on the next leg as well. Congrats, and keep it up. Seriously though, you have to give Will some shit when he's got it coming.

congrats and best of luck. Empty Broder's candy bowl and pin it on Will. Heighten the contradictions!

Aaron -- can't say you're wrong. But sometimes, you just need a break.

It's ok, Ezra, I'm sure most of us will follow.

Congrats on your great work done on the Prospect. Looking forward to the new shiny charts.

While you're on break you should check out Jill Richardson's food community blog La Vida Locavore. Good combination of wonky posts, advocacy and foodblogging (and lots of vegetarians too).

"Economic and Domestic Policy, and Lots of it"? Really? That sounds like something on Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood.

I'm almost at a loss. Your blog is, for the most part, the only thing I read at TAP. That's not a knock against the site, but honestly, until this exact post I never really thought about how the uniquely detailed commentary here partially comes from the attitude of this site as a whole. WaPo is great and all, but honestly this post makes me MORE worried about the future than if you had just posted a brief, "going 2 wapo yall, ttyl."

I'm updating my links, and I hope absolutely nothing changes about your blog. Good luck.

..and I'll start paying more attention to the front page here.. :)

Good luck, Ezra, and as those before me have said, don't let The Man ruin your excellent work.

It isn't as easy as a youngster like yourself may think. It takes balls and cleverness. Take it from an old corporate hack, or as I often describe myself, their "pet gadfly."

I'll be reading both you and here, I hope. Sewer's post on Limbaugh makes me want to come back.

All the best to you. You've made me smarter and I appreciate it.

J


Good luck, Ezra. I'm certain that the commenting environment won't be as welcoming for the peanut gallery, but let's hope that the posting environment is what has been promised to you.

Good luck, Ezra! Been with you since Pandagon days (though with a different pseudonym then). I think going to the Post is an excellent move to make, but more for the experiences you'll have there -- and the chance for greater opportunities ahead.

Hey Ezra, the RSS feed link on your new site isn't working yet, might want to let your new corporate overlords know so we can add it to our feed readers.

Never did like you much. (Just kidding.) Good luck with the Great Satan.

Oh no! How am I going to access Lawyers, Guns, and Money now? J/k (well, not really but...)! Good luck Ezra, enjoyed your blog here. I'll read you at the WaPo as long as you don't start sucking!

Ezra: Thank you for advancing my education and informing me on so many issues. I have enjoyed your time at TAP so much. Best of luck on the dark side - Corporate Media.

Best of luck to you. You are one smart young whippersnapper (whatever that is). Your mother must be so proud of you. I'd like to hear more of your healthcare policy expertise in broadcast media. Hope that happens for you. (Try to shave before you go on. It'll give you more credibility. Remember Richard Nixon).

Good luck! Save some money and then start Ezra Omnimedia!

"I urge you to stay"

Sure I'll stay. And of course I'll visit your new home too.

Best to you Ezra. And best to TAP.

Many thanks to both of you.

Good luck and Godspeed... but I suspect this is where I may get off.

I can't begin to thank you for all you've done - you were a near daily obsession for a number of years - years where I managed to balance minute by minute blog following with a very nice white collar career. You, seriously, are why I blog, because watching what you did, how you did it, made me realize I at least had to try. I'm a better writer a better political arguer... for all the blog posts I've read here and discussions I've joined.

But times change, we all grow... we move on. I agree with your move; it's time. You deserve - no judgments - a chance to become a larger part of the energy of what drives official Washington. But me... I don't need to go there. I've been there. In the case of DC, literally, I grew up there. Where you're going... is kind of where I've already been. And later, maybe, I may need what you find there. But for now, I think it's time. Good luck, may you enjoy considerable success... and here's to finding you again, someday, down the road.

"I'm sure it is a good career move from a financial standpoint, but you will end up defanged and co-opted."

Not sure it's even a good idea from a financial standpoint, given the implosion amongst broadsheet newspapers. Hope you negotiated your severance agreement aggressively.

Anyway, if Ezra finds the WaPo too constraining, he can do like Yglesias and move back into the think-tank/advocacy world.

(weboy
please come with us on the bus over to the washington post.
it wont be the same without you.)

Tell WaPo to take another photo of you for your new blog, because the one they have on there doesn't really capture your sexy nerd persona.

Best wishes. I second the picture thing. I'm not a big WaPo fan but I will bookmark you there for a while.

Luko

Nice Rooster plug.

Mazal tov. And see ya at the new digs.

Great blog- happy to have rediscovered TAP through your blog, perhaps the best digest of the relevant economic news on social policy issues.

Agreed on shout out to the Rooster. haha.

Good luck, Ezra!

And, can I just say, TAPPED has some fine people writing on the main blog. I'm particularly hopeful Adam gets a turn at his own page.

Good luck! You'll be a great asset at the new place.

No worries about me checking out TAP. I come over for Dean Baker all the time.

Congrats, but I have to agree @dr.

Petition for your old tagline back!!

Well Ezra,

Your big time sucking-up has finally paid off.

As I predicted long ago, you are with a single moral fibre. You are so common, like every other "liberal" who's just being "reasonable"...the list is so long of toadies pulling this stunt.

What can one possibly say on this auspicious occasion? Every ending is a beginning, whether it spring from a new job or a fatal insight. At least we can console ourselves with the knowledge that we'll still have Klein to kick around.

Remember when GM started up Saturn in the 1980s? And everybody loved Saturn for a while there. So all us car buffs started saying, we hope they make GM more like Saturn, and not the other way around.

Well, GM got it ack-basswards, and look where they are now?

So in this new venture, Ezra, think of yourself as Saturn and the WaPo as GM. Hopefully, they will get a clue and make themselves more like you, and not the other way around. But if they don't, don't wait around for the collapse. Get while the getting is good.

@S Brennan
while i share your pessimism, i think it's up to Ezra to prove that this is not a sell-out.

Keep up the good work there. I'll both be staying with TAP (paid on-line sub) and following you at WP as long as it remains free.

Just don't slide to the dark side, or I and many here will not be kind!!

"Just to affirm you're one of the best among the blogosphere. Please...please...keep hanging out with TAP types and insulate yourself as much as possible from the culture of the Washington Post.

Posted by: brucds"

DITTO!

I love your writing so I'll follow you anywhere (you kept me sane during the elections cycle, too).

I will keep TAP bookmarked and visited, as well as adding a new link to my blogroll.

Best of luck!

Well, there is some good news in this: Elsewhere at least, we will still have Klein to kick around some more.

I suggest all TAP readers watch the documentary,"The Political Prosecutions of Karl Rove" on the website:

http://www.politicalprosecutions.org/

The Federal Society criminal judges, prosecutors, military, and US Attorneys, et al are still in a position of power to falsely prosecute, smear and murder honest Americans - mostly Democrats, but also honest Republicans, as well.

America has a problem with corruption and Karl Rove, Dick Cheney and Rush Limbaugh are the ring leaders.

A belated congratulations on the move, Ezra. You're a welcome and necessary addition to the Post.

Good luck .

Break a leg.

But the little Berkeley boy-king Kos might stamp his widddle foot down about you joining the enemy -- especially after Kos' bizarro Republican rant pro-media monopolies today. I'll miss calling out that phony moron on your site.

Best.

wow it is very nice post i am really impress this post.i hope you will be always post there

Thank you..

I love your writing,I'll be reading both you and here,I hope. Sewer's post on Limbaugh makes me want to come back.

Hi there,
Ugh, I liked! So clear and positively.
Have a nice day

A belated congratulations on the move, Ezra. You're a welcome and necessary addition to the Post.

Thank you. Anyway good luck on your new place

I'm sure it is a good career move from a financial standpoint, but you will end up defanged and co-opted. Perhaps you will realize your mistake in a few years, one can always hope...

Every ending is a beginning, whether it spring from a new job or a fatal insight. I'll be reading both you and here,I hope. Sewer's post on Limbaugh makes me want to come back.

woh great its really a nice post... thanks a lot
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Wonderful Stuff you post!! I LOVE it!

Thank you for this wonderful work professionalization

One bone to pick...

If you're going to be on tv you really need to work on that lisp.

Obviously your mother never made you correct your speech, but lisping is optional and makes you come across like a child. But on an adult, it is not cute.

Try hard, concentrate, watch yourself in the mirror. And STOP.

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love your writing,I'll be reading both you and here,I hope. Sewer's post on Limbaugh makes me want to come back.

thanks!!

ing to be on tv you really need to work on that lisp.

Obviously your mother never made you corr

i'd like intrudce a website you will have the opportunity to wholesale jewelry

Hey does anyone know where I can get any cheap jewelry or lingerie?

Also this website's audience is about to get cut in half.

I love the work you've done with Journolist. Keep it up, for democracy's and the polity's sake!

Good kuck Ezra.. Best regards...

Oh I am sorry... A little correction: I wanted to write "Good luck" at previous post.

thanks alot

Thank you...

OK. see you...

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Good luck with the move

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seslidizayn sesli panelsesli chat paneli

Good luck Ezra.
I have enoyed reading your psots in the past and then I was away for a while and came back to see you 'leave'
:(

Best wishes Ezra!
Keep up the great work at WP and good luck

So Gooood...:)

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About Ezra Klein

Ezra Klein is an associate editor at The American Prospect. An archive of his articles for The American Prospect can be found here.

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