TNR editor pans Colbert... or maybe just bloggers
Aside from the New Republic's notable shift to the right over the last few years, the most disturbing aspect of the magazine in the new century is their new emphasis on cultural criticism (does anyone read political magazines for 'insight' on celebrity culture? Wait, I take that back. Stoking the flames of the "culture wars" is the bread and butter of the right.) Anyway, a blog entry on the site today comments on Stephen Colbert's unfunniness Saturday-- some material was recycled, and the new stuff was "pretty tired"-- especially for a world-weary, Beltway veteran.
Well, fine. If you weren't amused, that's your business. But naturally, Stephen Colbert isn't the point of Scheiber's post:
My sense is that the blogosphere response is more evidence of a new Stalinist aesthetic on the left--until recently more common on the right--wherein the political content of a performance or work of art is actually more important than its entertainment value.
Honestly, TNR's anti-blog sentiment is just getting tiresome at this point. Colbert's performance was political. And whether you find it entertaining will largely hinge on your own alliegances (Although Scheiber is exempt, having described himself as an unamused liberal). If enjoying the politics of political humor equals a Stalinist view, then there are probably a couple hundred million in this country.
I still read the magazine, but what makes it less and less relevant in my eyes is not only the decreasing quality of content (ad hominem attacks are now the norm), but their petulant insistence that they are the only ones fit to comment on politics today, and that the menace of political blogs needs to be curtailed. Huh. Political discourse restricted to a select few. Maybe it's time to put a lid on terms like 'Stalinist,' guys.
One more priceless bit of enlightened commentary from Scheiber, on Saturday's big after-party:
This was probably the least impressive of the handful of Bloomberg affairs I've been to. The hors d'oeuvres were more anemic-looking, and the venue was kind of Spartan. Alongside the posh Adams Morgan manses of previous years, the cavernous Macedonian [E]mbassy had all the charm of airplane hanger, except with worse acoustics. Maybe it's the best sign yet that Michael Bloomberg is bagging on that presidential run.
Why, my monocle almost popped out at the dreary sight of the shrimp en brochette. Positively Thracian in their lack of elegance.
Well, fine. If you weren't amused, that's your business. But naturally, Stephen Colbert isn't the point of Scheiber's post:
My sense is that the blogosphere response is more evidence of a new Stalinist aesthetic on the left--until recently more common on the right--wherein the political content of a performance or work of art is actually more important than its entertainment value.
Honestly, TNR's anti-blog sentiment is just getting tiresome at this point. Colbert's performance was political. And whether you find it entertaining will largely hinge on your own alliegances (Although Scheiber is exempt, having described himself as an unamused liberal). If enjoying the politics of political humor equals a Stalinist view, then there are probably a couple hundred million in this country.
I still read the magazine, but what makes it less and less relevant in my eyes is not only the decreasing quality of content (ad hominem attacks are now the norm), but their petulant insistence that they are the only ones fit to comment on politics today, and that the menace of political blogs needs to be curtailed. Huh. Political discourse restricted to a select few. Maybe it's time to put a lid on terms like 'Stalinist,' guys.
One more priceless bit of enlightened commentary from Scheiber, on Saturday's big after-party:
This was probably the least impressive of the handful of Bloomberg affairs I've been to. The hors d'oeuvres were more anemic-looking, and the venue was kind of Spartan. Alongside the posh Adams Morgan manses of previous years, the cavernous Macedonian [E]mbassy had all the charm of airplane hanger, except with worse acoustics. Maybe it's the best sign yet that Michael Bloomberg is bagging on that presidential run.
Why, my monocle almost popped out at the dreary sight of the shrimp en brochette. Positively Thracian in their lack of elegance.
posted by Matt Sandwich | 12:12 PM
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