New evidence shows that Andrew Sullivan was the twentieth 9/11 hijacker.

What's the problem with me saying that? After all, it's just a provocation to debate.

Also, Andrew writes:

And Ezra Klein should be careful unless his view of what journalism is degenerates into something indistinguishable from Sidney Blumenthal's.

Call me crazy, but I think Sidney Blumenthal's brand of journalism is far superior to Andrew Sullivan's.

So the presumptive nominee of the Democratic party is someone who's decision making processes are heavily influenced by paranoia and anger at the press?

Oh great. (Where is that Obama campaign contribution envelope.)

This was the second time I clicked on the Atlantic link to find it was subscriber-only. Which was irritating.

Have you put your mental energy towards this question...

How can health care become cheaper to individuals while maintaining quality?

I ask because isn't it true that, unlike so many technologies (that become cheaper over time, i.e., computers), the costs of health care technologies have remained high?

Oh please. That's the same lame excuse he used to justify publishing the Bell Curve excerpts.

Petey,
What's the problem with me saying that? After all, it's just a provocation to debate.

You mean apart from the fact that it's absurd, malicious and a lie?

Ezra,
What he doesn't say is that he believes the piece accurately described the Clinton health care plan. Which is what's at issue.

No, that's not what's at issue. He is responding to your accusation that his decision to publish the piece was dishonest and unprofessional. He may or may not agree with you about the accuracy of the piece, but that's a different issue.

"You mean apart from the fact that it's absurd, malicious and a lie?"

I'm just using Andrew's standard.

It's actually kinda fun. You get to say absurd, malicious lies, and then assert that you were just trying to "provoke a debate".

You get to say absurd, malicious lies, and then assert that you were just trying to "provoke a debate".

Just to hammer the Bell Curve comparison a bit more:

One of my proudest moments in journalism was publishing an expanded extract of a chapter from "The Bell Curve" in the New Republic before anyone else dared touch it. I published it along with multiple critiques (hey, I believed magazines were supposed to open rather than close debates) - but the book held up, and still holds up as one of the most insightful and careful of the last decade.

It's worth noting that Andrew Sullivan's bio happens to put "No Exit" and "The Bell Curve" side by side...

TNR also published the first airing of 'The Bell Curve,' the explosive 1995 book on IQ, and 'No Exit,' an equally controversial essay that was widely credited with helping to torpedo the Clinton administration's plans for universal health coverage.

And you have to work hard to find more dishonest, corrosive "scholarship" than The Bell Curve.

"It's worth noting that Andrew Sullivan's bio happens to put "No Exit" and "The Bell Curve" side by side..."

When I said Andrew Sullivan was the twentieth 9/11 hijacker, I was just trying to open rather than close the debate.

I actually had a little email exchange with Mr. Sullivan when he attacked Michael Moore as a propagandist. I asked , if Moore is a propagandist then what does that make Herrnstein and Murray? His response, "serious academics."

The bizarro world of Andrew Sullivan. He has no consistency in his positions and his hatred of all things Clinton causes him to say and do ridiculous things.

Anyone interested in revisiting the debate about how the New Republic helped scuttle the Clinton plan by pubishing a terrible article should take a look at Andy Lamey's article "Reckless Falsehood" from The Believer -- http://www.believermag.com/issues/200405/?read=article_lamey . The article makes clear that Andrew Sullivan did far more damage to The New Republic than Stephen Glass.

"I asked, if Moore is a propagandist then what does that make Herrnstein and Murray? His response, "serious academics."

I have it on very good authority that Al-Qaeda's plan was to have Sullivan use copies of The Bell Curve to club stewardesses and pilots into submission on 9/11, and he was only prevented from taking part in the plan by his inability to purchase copies of the book that morning since he could find a bookstore that would carry it.

"Clinton herself has conceded that she acted like an arrogant, paranoid self-righteous prick during this debacle."

AS prints this as gospel, but forgets to provide a link or a cite. Can anyone spell "P..r..o..j..e..c..t..i..o..n"?

Ezra, why do you keep pretending these people are honest? What compels this fantasy?

I thought Oliver Willis was dead.

Dead or alive, Oliver Willis is absolutely right on this one.

I have it on very good authority that Al-Qaeda's plan was to have Sullivan use copies of The Bell Curve to club stewardesses and pilots into submission on 9/11, and he was only prevented from taking part in the plan by his inability to purchase copies of the book that morning since he could find a bookstore that would carry it.

Well, my very good authority tells me that Sullivan's plan was to simply bore everyone within earshot to death by reading his collected Sunday NY Times Magazine pieces out loud.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It would be irresponsible not to.

"Is it irresponsible to speculate?"

No. You're just comfortable speculating about it as a provocation to debate.

If you want to be the 2nd coming of Sid B, go right ahead and take the advice of the, uh, wise counsel on this page. The decision is yours.

"If you want to be the 2nd coming of Sid B, go right ahead and take the advice of the, uh, wise counsel on this page. The decision is yours."

I'm actually a bit baffled as to the source of the general criticism of Blumenthal.

He worked for a Democratic administration for several years, I know. But what about a journalist openly working for an administration is so taboo?

I read Sullivan's blog regularly, and his postings about health care and Hillary Clinton are among his very weakest. Nor is his response to Ezra entirely convincing, particularly the lazy and cheap use of the "you were just a kid, so what do you know" card.

OT, just for the record, Ezra:
In your story "My commenters is smarter than I" (I simply love it that this is a blog where commenters really get respect) you wrote:
Jim notices something that I missed in Malkin's recitation of her family's health care woes. After being priced out on the individual market for awhile, Malkin purchased what's called a Medical Savings Account.

Yes, Jim quite eloquently made this point, and it nicely exposes Malkin as the hypocrite that she really is. But actually Jim wasn't the first one to make this point, much earlier another alert reader commented on your orginal story on Malkin's healthcare, rebuting two right wingers who accused you of picking your quotes:
"In fact, I advocated MSAs and noted approvingly the Wall Street Journal’s suggestion that the cure for limited market choices was less government intervention. Not more."
Rah! I get headaches from this stupidity. Firstly, tax preference IS governement intervention, its subsidizing certain choices. Secondly, only more government intervention in the meaning of regulation could force insurers to offer coverage to high risk groups like the Frosts (with two handicapped children) and Malkin (underweight) at prices that those customers could pay.
:pattingonmyback:
:D
No big deal, other commenters later made the same point, too. But this shows that having a comment section pays off. Nobody can find all the important points of all stories all of the time, and we, the readers, are only to happy when we're able to contribute to the debunking of republican spin. :-)

Did you and Matt talk aboout this and then decide that it would be better for you to post it?

lol

"Did you and Matt talk aboout this"

Matt, who? And what's this about?

After all, it's just a provocation to debate.

Yeah, I was surprised he said that... Maybe I misinterpreted him, but it sounded essentially like the Kirchik defense.

I like most of what I read here, but when Klein argues that this part of Sec. 1003 on "Protection of Consumer Choice" on p.15-16 of the bill, not the first page):

“Nothing in this Act shall be construed as prohibiting the following: (1) An individual from purchasing any health care services.”

invalidates McCaughey's argument that it was "almost impossible" to exit the system, he is either ill-informed or disingenuous. The very next line:

"(2) An individual from purchasing supplemental insurance (offered consistent with this Act) to cover health care services not included within the comprehensive benefit package."

essentially banned people from buying a non-Alliance plan that duplicated the Alliance-approved plans coverage, as was made clear later in the act:

SEC. 1422. STANDARDS FOR SUPPLEMENTAL HEALTH BENEFIT POLICIES (a) PROHIBITING DUPLICATION OF COVERAGE. (1) INGENERAL.—No health plan, insurer, or any other person may offer (A) to any eligible individual a supplemental health benefit policy that duplicates any coverage provided in the comprehensive benefit package;

While that provision might have been intended to prevent defrauding patients it also eliminated a separate, private insurance market outside state Alliance or employer alliances.

If your doctor took part in the Alliance plans he could not direct bill or balance bill. Sure, a doctor could operate outside the mandated plans entirely, but that would be a very risky business model since most of the population would be in the plans and there would be no other private insurance plans out there that covered care provided by the mandated plans.

Remember, that one of the main goals of the act was cost controls, and security of coverage would be subordinated to that. As the bill's preface says "To ensure individual and family security through health care coverage for all Americans in a manner that contains the rate of growth in health care costs... [my emphasis, and it is on the 1st page]

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This yoshi fellow makes some compelling points, but why must he link to archived magazine articles for subscribers only? Oh the humanity!

"This yoshi fellow makes some compelling points"
I would rather say, he raises some urgent questions!
:D

Sullivan doesn't read you often so you don't matter.
Well except when you talk about Sullivan or he can use the word chilling to describe one of your posts.
Why do attack independent thought?
Are you part of the leftist fourth column that is destroying America?

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