Bill Keller has a column at the NYT because he can have a column at the NYT, not because anybody is clamoring to hear what he has to say.
Print journalism dies preening.
When the newly sworn-in president congratulated us all on choosing unity of purpose over recriminations and worn-out dogmas, we wanted to believe that we had done exactly that.
Like "unity of purpose" isn't a "worn-out dogma."
Nobody who has a use for things like "a job" or "not having their child shot at in a stupid war" cares about "unity of purpose."
I mean, for fuck's sake:
But it is worth pondering how we got from that day to this partisan clamor, how we lost that sense of common cause, and how it became a consensus of the commentariat that Barack Obama is in serious danger of being a one-term president.
The reason Obama is in trouble is because too many people don't have jobs, and one of the reasons too many people don't have jobs is that the asshole commentariat thinks "unity of purpose" is more important than "jobs."
What is batshit here is that Keller is utterly oblivious to his own role in this nonsensical disaster. Obama is a creature of the Sensible Consensus. He is the Bill Keller President.
Keller might own up to this and let fly with some actual liberalism. That would be nice.
But also rude. Unity fooferaw.