Martin Longman is the web editor of the Washington Monthly.
He is also the founder of Booman Tribune and Progress Pond. Before joining the Monthly, Martin was a county coordinator for ACORN/Project Vote and a political consultant. He has a degree in philosophy from Western Michigan University.
Now’s definitely not the time to be forgiving of Glenn Greenwald style dupes whom once upon a time I respected. About a decade ago when Obama was POTUS, I was offered money to write critically of the Dem establishment and Obama in particular while I was still blogging. And indeed I was often genuinely critical out of my own sincerity before they approached. I was promised my readership would increase massively and that I could makes lots of money from advertising on top of what they were paying. It never occurred to me they were Russian intel. But it didn’t… Read more »
In 2008 Keith Olbermann had J Turley on every night to bash Obama and FISA and what have you. The point is that for a large a section of the progressive sphere, being pure was absolutely more important than winning. It’s no surprise that’s being used by nefarious agents today.
I particularly love the last paragraph. You have an excellent way of distilling the most important part of an issue. Also you seem so much more “level headed” than many bloggers. I get riled easily and enjoy your posts precisely because they do not rile. More likely they reassure. These fuckers need to be defeated, and by a landslide. May the powers of the Universe be on our side.
The time for in-fighting ends when the primary results come in. I’ll take Manchin and Tester over any Republican, until the Democrats control the government and the fascists are safely out of power and subject to laws again. When I make an argument online, it’s because I want to make the argument for myself, have a discussion with whomever I’m directing it at, and to provide – maybe – another perspective for the people who read the argument, to use as they see fit. I can only imagine there are far more readers than actual commenters here. The schism that… Read more »
Certainly, we should not dignify with our attention any soi-disant progressive who is still complaining that the real problem in our politics is that Democrats keep running candidates who are insufficiently left and who isn’t focused single-mindedly on defeating #45. I just wish we had started doing that much sooner. So much of the Democratic primary was divisive and destructive, and it didn’t need to be. The policy positions of most of the Presidential candidates in the primary were far more similar than different, and far more progressive than their Republican opponents. They differed on the margins. Yet, the self-proclaimed… Read more »
This takes me back to ’08, and the Sirotas and Greenwalds of the world stabbing Obama and decrying everything he did. I thought it was atrocious back then and feel vindicated now. It’s one of the reasons I love Booman…him and a small cabal of progressives who actually wanted to improve people’s lives rather than feel smug about being ‘pure’. Thank you, Martin.
I still don’t know what to make of the Tara Reade stuff. Not so much her story as the choice to run with her story by certain outlets with limited vetting. Especially when most media involved literally goes on Russia Today …
Now’s definitely not the time to be forgiving of Glenn Greenwald style dupes whom once upon a time I respected. About a decade ago when Obama was POTUS, I was offered money to write critically of the Dem establishment and Obama in particular while I was still blogging. And indeed I was often genuinely critical out of my own sincerity before they approached. I was promised my readership would increase massively and that I could makes lots of money from advertising on top of what they were paying. It never occurred to me they were Russian intel. But it didn’t… Read more »
In 2008 Keith Olbermann had J Turley on every night to bash Obama and FISA and what have you. The point is that for a large a section of the progressive sphere, being pure was absolutely more important than winning. It’s no surprise that’s being used by nefarious agents today.
I particularly love the last paragraph. You have an excellent way of distilling the most important part of an issue. Also you seem so much more “level headed” than many bloggers. I get riled easily and enjoy your posts precisely because they do not rile. More likely they reassure. These fuckers need to be defeated, and by a landslide. May the powers of the Universe be on our side.
I trolled the living fuck out of a purist yesterday and it was delightful.
The time for in-fighting ends when the primary results come in. I’ll take Manchin and Tester over any Republican, until the Democrats control the government and the fascists are safely out of power and subject to laws again. When I make an argument online, it’s because I want to make the argument for myself, have a discussion with whomever I’m directing it at, and to provide – maybe – another perspective for the people who read the argument, to use as they see fit. I can only imagine there are far more readers than actual commenters here. The schism that… Read more »
I’d offer Matt Taibbi for submission.
Certainly, we should not dignify with our attention any soi-disant progressive who is still complaining that the real problem in our politics is that Democrats keep running candidates who are insufficiently left and who isn’t focused single-mindedly on defeating #45. I just wish we had started doing that much sooner. So much of the Democratic primary was divisive and destructive, and it didn’t need to be. The policy positions of most of the Presidential candidates in the primary were far more similar than different, and far more progressive than their Republican opponents. They differed on the margins. Yet, the self-proclaimed… Read more »
This takes me back to ’08, and the Sirotas and Greenwalds of the world stabbing Obama and decrying everything he did. I thought it was atrocious back then and feel vindicated now. It’s one of the reasons I love Booman…him and a small cabal of progressives who actually wanted to improve people’s lives rather than feel smug about being ‘pure’. Thank you, Martin.
I still don’t know what to make of the Tara Reade stuff. Not so much her story as the choice to run with her story by certain outlets with limited vetting. Especially when most media involved literally goes on Russia Today …