Joe Klein Needs to Buy a Clue

Yes, Joe Klein - the supposedly left-wing journalist who writes for Time Magazine - definitely needs to buy a clue. I'd suggest that he shop at eBay™ since wherever it is he currently buys his clues from has obviously run out of stock.

In an effort to clarify what he claims was a misquote by Eric Alterman on the Huffington Post, Klein responds:

In his recent account of a breakfast book party at the home of Tina Brown and Harry Evans, Eric Alterman misquoted me slightly but significantly. What I actually said was "the hate America tendency of the [Democratic Party's] left wing" had made it harder for Democrats to challenge Republicans on foreign policy.

And, to add insult to injury, he continues:

The default position of leftists like, say, Michael Moore and many writers at The Nation, is that America is essentially a malignant, imperialistic force in the world and the use of American military power is almost always wrong. Liberals have a more benign, and correct, view of America's role in the world and tend to favor the use of military force if it is exercised judiciously, as a last resort, and in a multilateral contect[sic]--with U.N. approval or through NATO.

First of all, Joe, show me one - just one - example of left-wingers hating America. I'll wait. Let me know when you come up with one.

Oh - that's right! You can't come up with one because left-wingers don't "hate America"!! How could you possibly buy into that vicious Bushco rhetoric? And you claim to represent the left? Shame on you! Why Time magazine would continue to pay your salary at this point is beyond me. Maybe you'd be more comfortable over at FOX.

Secondly, I'm a "liberal" and I'm antiwar - all war. Chew on that. UN approval, NATO support - I really don't care. War is an exercise in mass hysteria and blatant power mongering that has cost millions of lives but, according to you, as a liberal I'm not allowed to have that opinion. Are you so narrow-minded in your thinking that you cannot get past stiffly categorizing people into pigeon holes that suit your stereotypes?

Sheesh.

I don't know who Jane Smiley is, but she nails it in her response to Klein. Rate that article high so more people will read it.