Joe Klein Says Wahhhh!!!

In his Time column, Joe Klein decries the meanness of the left-wing blogosphere.

But the smart stuff is being drowned out by a fierce, bullying, often witless tone of intolerance that has overtaken the left-wing sector of the blogosphere. Anyone who doesn't move in lockstep with the most extreme voices is savaged and ridiculed—especially people like me who often agree with the liberal position but sometimes disagree and are therefore considered traitorously unreliable.

Joe did everything but call the netroots the "nattering nabobs of negatism" (fun for all of you Agnew fans out there). Yes, the left netroots is just too mean for Joe. Never mind that Joe wrote lines like "witless tone of intolerance" or calling George Bush "one of the worst Presidents in history." Joe doesn't like harsh tones or mean judgments when they come from others, especially if they are in regards to him.

Atypical of the MSM, Joe Klein likes to render judgments and give harsh opinions, but feels above being judged by others. In his own mind, his work is beyond reproach, so how dare someone else take him to account for the things he writes.

Newsflash for Joe Klein, Brian Williams and any other MSM within shouting distance, those days where your work was left unchecked are gone. There are now thousands of sites dedicated to getting the story straight, and you're going to have to take your lumps when you get it wrong. And you're going to have to deal with the judgment of others, whether you like it or not. Because all those people who used to read magazines and watch television now read blogs, because we're the ones doing the real journalism nowadays (Josh Marshall made the US attorneys story because he actually did some digging, like the journalists of yore). That's the new reality, so deal with it