My post below criticizing Lefties In Blogistan had a bunch of good comments from people, so let me add a few things.
I am basically a Clinton Democrat - perhaps more along the lines of how Clinton would have done things as benevolent dictator, or at least with a Dem Congress at his disposal, than how things were run in the 90s, but no flaming progressive.
However, my big concern about the political discourse in this country is that it is now nothing more than the Center versus the Right. This narrow framing of the debate, combined with our media's tendency (in David Broder style) to play referee and award the trophy to the position inbetween Center and Right means that the "right" answer becomes somewhere smack dab in the center-right corner of the Republican viewpoint.
What happens in Blogistan, as we all happily snipe away and make our snarky comments, is that the "Liberals" join the Righties in absolutely mercifully piling on those on the Left to the point where they completely undermine the ability of anyone to take anything that person writes seriously ever again.
There are too few voices on the Left. I don't want the debate to be TNR vs. National Review, Mike Kinsely vs. Pat Buchanan. That isn't much of a debate.
Why pile on Eric Alterman? Sure, sometimes he's a bit of a jerk and sometimes he's quite wrong, but he's one of the only practical and sane voices coming from that end of the political spectrum.
It isn't criticism of the Left I mind, but the obsessive criticism which is designed to destroy the utter credibility of a person. If Dame Andrew were "from the Left" he'd have been laughed out of town by now for his factually challenged tenure as Editor at TNR, his ridiuclously morally inconsistent jihad against Paul Krugman, and, yes, his sex scandal.
I want political voices to the left of me, and there aren't many out there. How many people are there between, say, "liberal" E.J. Dionne and Noam Chomsky? Not many, so cut them some slack.
And, as for Chomsky, until he gets a column in the New York Times, just ignore him. Everyone else does.
