THE (FORMERLY) MUSHBALL MIDDLE….Josh Marshall talks about the change in his writing over the past few years:
I guess I’m one of those partisanized moderates Kevin Drum has spoken of (not sure that’s precisely the phrase he used.) That leads to a certain loss of nuance sometimes in commentary and a loss in the variegation of our politics generally. As a writer, often it’s less satisfying.
But I cannot see looking back on all this, the threat the country is under, and saying, I stood aloof.
I’ve tried harder than Josh to retain a moderate tone over the years, but this describes me pretty well too. And just recently I’ve been thinking about what a genuinely profound story this is, one that the mainstream media ought to be more interested in. Instead of writing incessantly about “angry bloggers,” they ought to be asking why so many mild-mannered moderate liberals have become so radicalized during George Bush’s tenure. It deserves attention beyond the level of cliches and slogans.
