It's worth saying that the elevation of Marty Peretz's protege James Kirchick onto The Plank and the pages of the Examiner is proof positive that Marty is not a meaningless part of that magazine, and his ability to influence the hiring, firing, and editorial end of things does in fact allow his ideology to propagate both within TNR and outside its walls (working at TNR is a powerful resume line). That's all fine, but folks shouldn't pretend it isn't true. Meanwhile, I really can't mention Marty without once again linking to the most awesome blog post ever. I think it was John Judis who suggested that fantastical conspiracy thinking was a recognizable marker of anti-semitism, and Peretz's willingness to blame George Soros for flights canceled because of inclement weather certainly qualifies. Those Jews control everything!
Update: So long as I'm on the subject, Open University has been terrific lately. Michael Kazin's post arguing that contemporary television programming is much more interesting and nuanced than at any time since the medium's invention is very good (I have to remember to watch Friday Night Lights) and Eric Rauchway's advice on how to review a book is quite sharp, although there's absolutely no way I'll follow it.
