joe klein sucks

i have read time magazine for years and i have always been in awe of how much joe klein sucks. his articles are not your typical unbiased news stories, nor are they opinion pieces. here is his latest one. he tries to write a different kind of article, one that is full of opinions but tries to be fair and balanced to the democrats and republicans. he mostly seems to write about the various strategies of public relations and propaganda done by both sides, and their supposed effectiveness. but the ironic part is, he usually gets brainwashed by much of the propaganda, not always from the same side, of course. like, he thinks immediate withdrawal of u.s. troops from iraq would be disastrous. ok, fine, maybe that is correct, who knows. but he also says a timetable, getting it done by the end of the year would be disastrous. but then he goes on to contradict himself, talking about the zarqawi assassination. he headlines his article about how bush is still winning the war at home, even though bush’s poll numbers are rock bottom and republicans are all trying to distance themselves from him. and then later on, joe klein talks about bush and rove being liars and having failed policies, yet he keeps harping on the democrats and john kerry failing in their attempts at public discourse regarding the war in iraq. what is most notable is, joe klein constantly contradicts himself, again and again, and he does not seem to have many coherent viewpoints on things, often having one opinion early in an article and a completely opposite opinion later on in the same article. his efforts to correct misinformation are laudable nonetheless, but it is questionable what joe klein is motivated by, who he supports, what his agenda is. does he want democrats or republicans to win in november, or is he simply an observer who will report what he sees without passing judgement? he does pass judgement quite often in his articles, but he keeps flip-flopping so fast it leaves me breathless. i am a critical thinker and i always try to evaluate the bias of every article i read, questioning the writer’s motivations and agenda. but with joe klein, i come up blank. i simply cannot understand him at all, based on what he writes. it just leaves me dumbfounded. and i think, if he were a better writer, it would not cause that reaction in me. most political commentators write straightforward one-sided polemics, which i find much easier to deal with. i am able to see their point of view quite clearly, and it makes sense, and i feel i have learned something after reading what they have to say. but joe klein simply writes in a pseudo-journalistic pseudo-balanced style that is really off-putting, and makes you really wonder what kind of hidden agenda he has. why does he always try to diss on both sides equally? it does not seem like natural human behavior, to act so balanced and diss equally on both sides, which is what raises suspicions that he is simply putting on a sort of act, parroting other people’s views rather than stating his own. the natural human response in a conflict such as republicans versus democrats is to take sides, at least partially. like you can say, you don’t like either side, but you think one is not quite as bad as the other. what makes joe klein the impartial arbiter of acceptable political discourse, though? it seems his purpose is to frown upon things he disagrees with, in both parties, to encourage more centrist tendencies. but i am not even sure about that. what i do know is, the american people are ignored by politicians, each party ignores its base, and instead they pursue policies considered prudent by elitist pundits such as joe klein, rather than respecting the views of public opinion. our democracy has been hijacked by the media, who have gone from simply reporting on what happens, to being active participants in politics who frame the debates and set things up to achieve predetermined outcomes. but these media elites distrust mass popular movements, so that is the source of this centrism: they hedge their bets between the 2 parties, while trying to undermine both liberal and conservative activists. however, i remain convinced that grassroots activists are the solution, and the centrist elites such as those in the media are the problem. i think both parties need to embrace their activist grassroots bases, re-invigorate themselves, radicalize, abandon all centrism of the type where the corporate media frames the debate for the politicians. like, although i disagree with the republicans on pretty much every issue, i do have some hints: get tough on illegal immigration, cut government spending enough to eliminate the deficit, change strategy in iraq so you can win the war, and never compromise on core principles. for the democrats, who i support: unite against the war and illegal wiretaps, don’t be afraid to talk about impeachment or where you stand on things, stop caving in to wealthy corporate interests since they are republicans anyway, raise the minimum wage and make it apply to foreigners in this country just like citizens, and never compromise on core principles. i don’t think anyone should embrace washington-style centrism, because centrism is for the weak, and for those who have small minds and cannot frame the debate, and simply let the media and washington insiders dictate to them, without having any core principles to base decisions on. joe klein’s worldview, as i see it, is nihilistic, believing in nothing other than doing what is practical at this moment in time, where how you do public relations is more important than what you are actually doing... there is no higher principle, no guide to what is right and what is wrong. and this is what leads to all the contradictions in his writing, and why he is so out of touch with what ordinary americans think. this is what is so dangerous... it is unprincipled republican nihilism that has brought us all of the problems we face today. (“reagan proved deficits don’t matter.” - dick cheney, showing a complete lack of any moral principles in his reasoning.) now maybe joe klein really is a liberal; maybe i misunderstood him. but i don’t care; he needs to be a better writer, regardless of what he really thinks. so, in short, joe klein sucks.