The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Stormfront for Liberals: The New Republic

Posted on | February 14, 2013 | 46 Comments

Chris Hughes: Liberal white-guilt peddler from Elite City

“The New Republic has abandoned its liberal but heterodox tradition and embraced a leftist outlook as predictable as that of Mother Jones or the Nation.”
— Marty Peretz, former publisher of The New Republic

After Facebook zillionaire Chris Hughes purchased The New Republic, he proclaimed that the magazine, which has long since lost the prestige it enjoyed in the 1980s and ’90s, would “strive to be free of party ideology or partisan bias.” This proclamation was instantly falsified by the magazine’s first print cover story under the new publisher, a smear of the Republican Party by Sam Tanenhaus.

That inspired a memorable Twitter beatdown of Chris Hughes by Ace of Spades — if you haven’t seen it, you simply must — who pointed out that, despite its partisan heckling of Republicans as “The Party of White People,” The New Republic‘s editorial staff is a monochromatic swath of vanilla honkydom. What is true of The New Republic is, of course, true of liberalism in general. The folks who were most eager to brand the Tea Party movement “racist” were white liberals, and this tells you something about what Shelby Steele called the White Guilt mentality of liberals: “Vote Democrat, cracker, in order to signify your moral righteousness on race issues.”

Never mind, of course, whether the policies of the Democrat Party actually result in any genuine improvement in the quality of life for African-Americans: When all that matters is your bien pensant good intentions toward black people, the efficacy of policy can be ignored as a trivial concern. Skepticism toward liberal policies becomes evidence of mala fides — for example, you’re a racist if you take seriously the “mismatch” critique of affirmative action — and intelligent examination of alternatives is thereby rendered impossible.

Essential to this way of thinking is the demonization of Republicans as representative of negative values: Racist, sexist, homophobic, greedy, redneck, theocratic, clueless, rich people. 

Rhetoric about ideological liberalism thus ignores the unthinking partisanship — the enthusiastic cheerleading mentality that views the success of the Democratic Party as necessary to the good of the American people — which is the genuine nature of “bias” in 21st-century political journalism. The press corps is nowadays overcrowded by propagandists who think of every story in terms of startling simplicity: How will this help Democrats or hurt Republicans?

Isn’t that why the national media have so strenuously tried to ignore the death of Jennifer Morbelli? Bad news for the abortion industry is bad news for Democrats, and therefore a woman’s death after a late-term abortion . . . well, that’s not news at all!

Liberals never examine their consciences, mainly because membership in the Party of Death requires them to discard their consciences, but also because honesty and self-awareness are not prerequisites for success as a partisan hack. The descent of liberal journalism into unmitigated partisan hackdom in the Obama Age is not a phenomenon that The New Republic will ever examine in its pages, because they don’t employ any writers capable of stepping outside the bubble of epistemic closure that envelops them. It is a magazine that employs clever liberal writers to tell slightly less clever liberal readers that their liberalism is synonymous with cleverness — and also, Vote Democrat, you crackers!

UPDATE (Smitty): welcome, Instapundit readers!

 


Category: Intellectuals, Journalism, Liberals

Comments

46 Responses to “Stormfront for Liberals: The New Republic”

  1. McGehee
    February 14th, 2013 @ 12:00 pm

    He does look like one of those overly clean-cut closet fascist types that belonged to the rival frat in Animal House. You know the one, its Greek letters included one with an umlaut.

  2. Finding the Money and Power in Fomenting Civil War | Daily Pundit
    February 14th, 2013 @ 12:30 pm

    […] Stormfront for Liberals: The New Republic : The Other McCain “The New Republic has abandoned its liberal but heterodox tradition and embraced a leftist outlook as predictable as that of Mother Jones or the Nation.” – Marty Peretz, former publisher of The New Republic […]

  3. gwheelockvan
    February 14th, 2013 @ 12:42 pm

    Five minutes. Nail gun. Unctuous smile problem solved.

  4. gwheelockvan
    February 14th, 2013 @ 12:42 pm

    It’s Howdy Doody Time!

  5. Mm
    February 14th, 2013 @ 12:45 pm

    You are on a roll lately. I almost peed my pants when I read the headline.

  6. Teresa in Fort Worth, TX
    February 14th, 2013 @ 12:47 pm

    Well, gracious – we can’t allow the chocolate ice cream to mix with the vanilla, now can we? It simply isn’t done…..

  7. WJJ Hoge
    February 14th, 2013 @ 12:56 pm

    magazine : food :: TNR : Wonder Bread

  8. WJJ Hoge
    February 14th, 2013 @ 12:58 pm

    This is another example of the need to ban high-capacity magazines. No one has any legitimate need for a copy of TNR with more than 10 pages (7 pages in NY).

  9. Instapundit » Blog Archive » STACY MCCAIN: Stormfront For Liberals: The New Republic. It is kinda “racially tinged.”…
    February 14th, 2013 @ 1:12 pm

    […] MCCAIN: Stormfront For Liberals: The New Republic. It is kinda “racially […]

  10. andycanuck
    February 14th, 2013 @ 1:19 pm

    The New Republic‘s editorial staff is a monochromatic swath of vanilla honkydom.
    That’s awful, Robert, they prefer to be called Cracker-Americans.

  11. Rand Simberg
    February 14th, 2013 @ 1:41 pm

    You forgot the scare quotes on “liberals.”

  12. Diversity at The New Republic | hogewash
    February 14th, 2013 @ 1:42 pm

    […] at The New Republic Posted on 14 February, 2013 by wjjhoge Stacy McCain has a post up about the staff diversity, or lack thereof, at The New […]

  13. K-Bob
    February 14th, 2013 @ 1:51 pm

    That’s biscuit-ist, that is.

  14. ThomasD
    February 14th, 2013 @ 1:55 pm

    Twenty would be ok, so long it’s not on glossy paper.

  15. Transterrestrial Musings - Farewell To The New Republic
    February 14th, 2013 @ 1:55 pm

    […] The magazine has become a Stormfront for “liberals.” […]

  16. K-Bob
    February 14th, 2013 @ 2:01 pm

    He’s on a mission to prove that ending slavery; getting the fifteenth amendment passed; passing civil rights legislation over the objection of Al Gore, Sr, “Sheets” Byrd (and other Democrat idols); and NOT being the party of the KKK is no reason to stop calling the GOP raaaaacist!

  17. Chuck Long
    February 14th, 2013 @ 2:03 pm

    “therefore a woman’s death after a late-term abortion . . . well, that’s not news at all!”

    Broken eggs,omelettes…

  18. David Gillies
    February 14th, 2013 @ 2:53 pm

    If TNR is Der Stürmer for Libs then I guess that makes Chris Hughes Julius Streicher. Tee hee.

  19. Adjoran
    February 14th, 2013 @ 3:08 pm

    I for one am happy to see some of these wealthy leftists throw their millions away on print magazines with rapidly declining circulation and revenues. If those millions weren’t cast down such bottomless rat-holes they would inevitably find their way into other coffers on the left, like campaign funds, where they might do far more damage to the Republic.

  20. Wombat_socho
    February 14th, 2013 @ 3:22 pm

    How dare you impugn a wholesome, decent product like Wonder Bread, beloved by millions.

  21. PurpAv
    February 14th, 2013 @ 3:23 pm

    Stormfront has standards…I’m thinking more Hammerskins nation.

  22. Ed Driscoll » Marty Peretz has Second Thoughts
    February 14th, 2013 @ 4:11 pm

    […] See also: changing roles of Eurasia and Eastasia in Oceania. Which brings us to Stacy McCain, who brutally dubs TNR, “Stormfront for Liberals.” […]

  23. Bob Belvedere
    February 14th, 2013 @ 4:26 pm

    It’s Evil Twin Howdy Doody Time!

  24. gwheelockvan
    February 14th, 2013 @ 4:26 pm

    As for Marty, he took the money and now he needs to simply bend over and take it like a man.

  25. Bob Belvedere
    February 14th, 2013 @ 4:28 pm

    Good point.

  26. Maybe the New Republic should change its name « The Daley Gator
    February 14th, 2013 @ 4:56 pm

    […] slipped off and the ugly face of unbridled Leftism is showing. But don’t take that from me, listen to the former publisher “The New Republic has abandoned its liberal but heterodox tradition and embraced a leftist […]

  27. MohammedTheTeddyBear
    February 14th, 2013 @ 5:42 pm

    So….would this make a TNR with more than 10 pages an “Assault Magazine” or merely a “scary magazine”?

  28. MohammedTheTeddyBear
    February 14th, 2013 @ 5:45 pm

    “….bend over and take it like a man.”
    Well, if, by ‘like a man’, you mean ‘whinnying like a girl’, then yeah……

  29. teapartydoc
    February 14th, 2013 @ 6:01 pm

    This may have been a necessary move for them. With a subscribership that small they would need a more loyal and dedicated base, and people who waste money on Nation and Mother Jones will waste money on TNR just to keep it alive.

  30. K-Bob
    February 14th, 2013 @ 6:42 pm

    Low-cap magazines could be called, ‘zines.

  31. K-Bob
    February 14th, 2013 @ 6:44 pm

    Ron Howard’s long lost son!

  32. juandos
    February 14th, 2013 @ 7:30 pm

    Are you sure it isn’t Ron Howard’s ‘other‘ wife?

  33. Adjoran
    February 15th, 2013 @ 1:11 am

    “Helps build strong bodies 12 ways!”

    They never actually listed any of those ways, though.

  34. Adjoran
    February 15th, 2013 @ 1:13 am

    Probably born of a surrogate to grow follicles for a transplant.

  35. Rev. Dr. E Buzz
    February 15th, 2013 @ 6:49 am

    I am so torn now. I feel so much guilt for being white, but know that it’s simply not enough. What will I do!!!

  36. Bob Belvedere
    February 15th, 2013 @ 7:29 am

    Wrong! Larry Fine breath!…

    …By the 1960s, Wonder Bread was advertised with the slogan “Helps build strong bodies 12 ways,” referring to the number of added nutrients….

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonder_Bread#United_States

  37. Bob Belvedere
    February 15th, 2013 @ 7:31 am

    A reverse Michael Jackson???

  38. Andrew Patrick
    February 15th, 2013 @ 7:32 am

    Heh. I called TNR “Your Hypocritical Stormfront on the Potomac…” a few days ago, albeit for different reasons.

    http://andrewjpatrick.com/2013/02/12/ace-excorciates-the-white-republic/

    Great minds and all of that….

  39. digitalbrownshirt
    February 15th, 2013 @ 8:01 am

    I thought “Stormfront” was the Stormfront of liberals.

  40. DYSPEPSIA GENERATION » Blog Archive » STORMFRONT for Liberals: The New Republic
    February 15th, 2013 @ 8:22 am

    […] The Other McCain draws an historical parallel. […]

  41. K-Bob
    February 15th, 2013 @ 2:32 pm

    Hah! You made me LOL, dammit.

  42. htowt
    February 15th, 2013 @ 4:09 pm

    Linked in the “Fox Butterfield, is that you?” segment by James Taranto and BOTW on 2/15/2013. Nice work, Stacy!

  43. 13634rhonecircle.com | Critical Condition
    February 15th, 2013 @ 4:12 pm

    […] The New Republic’s editorial staff is a monochromatic swath of vanilla honkydom.”–TheOtherMcCain.com, […]

  44. Best of the Web Today: Critical Condition | Hillbilly News
    February 15th, 2013 @ 5:04 pm

    […] T' New Republic’s editerial staff is a monochromatic swath o'vanilla honkydom.”–TheOtherMckune.com, […]

  45. Wrathful_Brunette
    February 16th, 2013 @ 1:26 pm

    He looks oddly like a hairless albino rat with a bad wig.

  46. FMJRA 2.0: #WARRIORS : The Other McCain
    February 16th, 2013 @ 9:01 pm

    […] Stormfront for Liberals: The New Republic […]