[lbo-talk] Taibbi: Plutocrats Still in Charge, Empire Still Suicidal

Jeffrey Fisher jeff.jfisher at gmail.com
Thu Aug 5 12:55:08 PDT 2010


On Thu, Aug 5, 2010 at 1:33 PM, Eric Beck <ersatzdog at gmail.com> wrote:


> > http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/17390/188551
> > "Wall Street's Big Win"
> > By Matt Taibbi
>
> Well, I guess if you've got a formula that works, you might as well go
> with it. What did Spy magazine used to call it, Script-O-Matic? A
> little New Deal nostalgia here, a little populist outrage there, some
> nationalist cant about "our" economy," all lined with a
> high-testosterone writing style, and boom--you've got yourself an
> article.

Yeah, I don't know. I wonder if Taibbi has lost his touch since the days when I lived to read his eviscerations of Thomas Friedman. He used to smack TF down for just this kind of mixed metaphor, "If you want to gamble like a drunken sailor, fine. Just don't expect us to mop up the mess after you puke your guts out." It's a very confused image.

But I thought there was some substance to the piece. Yeah, the good guys and bad guys are predictable, and there's something a little romantic about the idea of "rogue senators" taking on the White House. Even so, I didn't find it nearly as frustrating as you did, I think.

Of course, maybe it would all seem less new to me if I'd been paying closer attention as stuff was happening.



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