The ultimate tempest in the ultimate teapot!!!

Hold onto your hats, folks!!!!

Lee Siegel, author, New Republic blogger, and coiner of the term "blogofascism" just got suspended from TNR. His crime? Posting outrageous, Siegel-aggrandizing comments on his own posts under the handle "sprezzatura."

Eh? What's that gentle buzzing I hear? That low-volume grumbling? Oh, it's just the left hand side of the blogosphere, which is going characteristically apeshit today over the Siegel suspension. (Google search: "lee siegel" sprezzatura)

Hmm, the whole story does raise some vaguely relevant questions about the unwritten rules and ethical constraints of blog punditry. And sprezzatura's posts are really over the top and fun to read in a cringe-inducing way. Quick, post some comments on ThinkProgress, then create a satirical mini-blog dedicated to the scandal! Get on it!

Playing out the rope

Would it really be a problem for the Democrats if they were directionless going into the midterm elections this November?

In The New Republic this week, Peter Beinart postulates that the best strategy for the Dems is to keep any visionary agenda they may or may not have on the DL.

It makes sense. According to recent polling, an awful lot of Americans are pretty pissed at the Bush administration and/or the Republican led Congress right now. If you’re a Democrat, do you really want to complicate that equation? By pushing a bold national platform for voters to consider? (And bear in mind, it’s one thing to have a bold national platform, it’s another thing to push it aggressively.)

As Beinart writes, it seems quite possible that this is, in fact, the agreed-upon D strategy...and that the vagueness of their agenda is intentional.

Wishful thinking?