Jay Rosen Thinks You Should Read More Matt Taibbi

Jay's right, although I have a small problem with classifying Mr. Taibbi as "underappreciated" as he now enjoys a regular gig at "The Rolling Stone" and "The Sideboob Journal Huffington Post" feels he has wide enough name recognition that they built an entire editorial atop one of Mr. Taibbi's 140-character jabs at David Brooks from The Twitter Machine --

"I have a serious question for David Brooks, who is hailing Romney's Bain record http://nyti.ms/NyEzQ4 . Do you know how private equity works?"

-- which, within 24 hours, had been retweeted (by my count) 155 times and "favorited" 53 times.


That's recognition.

On the other hand, Mr. Taibbi is pretty clearly on what appears to be permanent, double-secret Beltway probation after making David Gergen go Number Two in his pantaloons when he suggested on live teevee that teabaggers are many, many possums short of a stew (From "Rolling Stone"):

... 

Taibbi: To me, the main thing about the Tea Party is that they're just crazy. If somebody is able to bridge the gap with those voters, it seems to me they will have to be a little bit crazy too. That's part of the Tea Party's litmus test: "How far will you go?"

Gergen: I flatly reject the idea that Tea Partiers are crazy. They had some eccentric candidates, there's no question about that. But I think they represent a broad swath of the American electorate that elites dismiss to their peril.

Hart: I agree with David. When two out of five people who voted last night say they consider themselves supporters of the Tea Party, we make a huge mistake to suggest that they are some sort of small fringe group and do not represent anybody else.

Taibbi: I'm not saying that they're small or a fringe group.

Gergen: You just think they're all crazy.

Taibbi: I do.

Gergen: So you're arguing, Matt, that 40 percent of those who voted last night are crazy?

Taibbi: I interview these people. They're not basing their positions on the facts — they're completely uninterested in the facts. They're voting completely on what they see and hear on Fox News and afternoon talk radio, and that's enough for them.

Gergen: The great unwashed are uneducated, so therefore their views are really beneath serious conversation?

Taibbi: I'm not saying they're beneath serious conversation. I'm saying that these people vote without acting on the evidence.

Gergen: I find it stunning that the conversation has taken this turn. I disagree with the Tea Party on a number of issues, but it misreads who they are to dismiss them as some kind of uneducated know-nothings who have somehow seized power in the American electorate. It is elitist to its core. We would all be better off if we spent more time listening to each other rather than simply writing them off. 

...

But such an embargo suggests nothing more than run-of-the-mill Villager cowardice and fear, not a lack of appreciation.