Newsweek Pleads Insanity

Sometimes, you look at something and can only scratch your head and say, "Honestly. What were they thinking????"

Getting rid of Coke for New Coke is one of those moments. Asking Roseanne Barr to sing the National Anthem is another. You try to be fair and look at all possible reasons from every conceivable angle...and just can't see any rational, human reason behind the thinking.

We can add to the list Newsweek hiring Karl Rove as a commentator.

Honestly. What were they thinking????

I mean, sure, we all know what their justification is, but understand that Ford can show you all the crack research that explains why the Edsel was going to be one great-selling car.

Yes, Newsweek will explain it's important to have a conservative voice in the mix. And that it's interesting to have someone with government experience.

Hey. This is Karl Rove we're talking about. We're not idiots, ya know. This isn't a conservative voice with government experience. This is Fagan teaching all the lost urchins how to pickpocket and not get caught. Scooter Libby is a conservative with government experience, too -- Newsweek could have gotten him, and he doesn't even have to write from behind bars, thanks to Mr. Rove's former boss. And keep in mind that Karl Rove only escaped indictment himself by about 15 minutes, because some lawyer blabbed and gave Rove time to change his story before Patrick Fitzgerald handed him a "Go Directly to Jail" card.

And Newsweek hired him as a commentator.

Honestly -- what were they thinking????

Yes, the magazine will tell us that they can justify hiring Karl Rove as a commentator because it balances things after hiring Markos Moulitsas of Daily Kos.

Hint: if you hire someone to explain about being nice to people, that doesn't mean you should get Josef Stalin to balance that position.

Newsweek has hired a man to write commentary who told interviewer Charlie Rose that "one of the untold stories about the war is why did the United States Congress, the United States Senate, vote on the war resolution in the fall of 2002...This administration was opposed to it."

As Keith Olbermann put it, the story was untold because it's not true. As documents on the White House website put it, it's not true. Little babies teething understand it's not true. That tree outside my front door knows it's not true. Whoever you are, you know it's not true.

And Newsweek hired him as a commentator.

What were they thinking????

(It gets worse. Mr. Rove tries to squirm out some explanation why we should believe the administration was opposed to it. "Because we didn't think it belonged within the confines of the election," he weaseled. "We thought it made it too political." There is nothing this administration thought was too political. If someone hugged a puppy, and the Bush White House could think of how to make it political, they'd have made it political.)

This is a free peek at what Newsweek hired. It is not opinion. It's not even propaganda. What this is, is lies. It is lies. And everyone, including the 31% who still support George Bush understand that it is lies. Indeed, one of the very reasons those 31% still support George Bush is specifically because he pressured Congress into voting America into war.

Newsweek has hired a man who tells lies, like other people take breaths. And for the same reason, because they need to, or else they will die. This isn't whimsy, the history of Rove lies have been overwhelmingly documented throughout the land, most notably in James Moore and Wayne Slater's book, Bush's Brain.

And Newsweek hired this known, documented liar as a commentator.

What in the world were they possibly thinking????

Back in January, I wrote a piece, "Getting Advice from the Chronically Wrong." For some reason, the media is still inviting certain commentators to give their opinions despite having been shown to be wrong on pretty much everything. Yet William Kristol, Kate O'Beirne, Sean Hannity, Bay Buchanan, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and the like continue to be trotted out like show ponies. That's bad enough. But for Newsweek to go to the next level and hire as a regular columnist someone who not only has been wrong on pretty much everything, but has driven the U.S. into a bottomless hole and lied about it, that is utterly incomprehensible.

Did they think Karl Rove would attract the far right-wing base? Those people aren't readers. And they don't trust the press. And they most-especially hate the Washington Post, which owns Newsweek.

So, all that can come of hiring Karl Rove as a commentator is to destroy the magazine's credibility, and drive other readers away. It's hard not to imagine Newsweek subscriptions being cancelled.

Honestly. What were they thinking?????

This assumes, of course, that they were thinking.

Comments

[shamanbart]

It's a shame that Newsweek had to undermine its already tenuous credibility by hiring Karl Rove, an anti-statesman who puts political gain above all else, even country.
Newsweek now needs to change its name to "The Week in Lies".
However, I'll continue to seek out one good columnist they have -- Eleanor Clift -- for her insight into the political mess that is Washington. I hope she jumps ship to find a better magazine to write for.
For the past 6 years or so, I've learned to regard all press releases from the White House and coverage from Fox News as lies or polluted coverage. "Commentators" like Limbaugh, Coulter, OReilly, Beck, et al., are regarded as propagandists and as such are completely untrustworthy. CNN is also starting to fall into that category due to their blatant right-wing opinionization of news and poor commentary.
Once people start eliminating newssources based on their track record with factual events, we might start seeing the death of some big players, like Newsweek, WSJ, Time, CNN, etc. Journalism needs to have at its core integrity. If Newsweek fails to understand that, they should just call it quits now.
Factual, well-reasoned commentary from the right-wing can be valuable, even for liberals, if only to give another point of view. However, it is clear that Rove and the others aforementioned hacks do not offer that, and need to be completely disregarded -- and of course fired.

[BuzzingAlong]

I for one will never spend another dime on Newsweek. Will not even touch Newsweek for fear that the slime will infect me.

[Spikethedog]

One only needs read the current posts in response to Mr. Elisberg's moaning to understand why Newsweek would hire Karl Rove --no one else on earth can cause the same level of hysteria among the left as Mr. Rove.

Not Rush, not O'Reilly, not W, not even the soon-NOT-to-be impeached Cheney.

Rove's the man who can unite all the Chicken Littles on the Left and bring them screaming into the sunshine and for that spectacle we have to be grateful.

And supportive of Newsweek.

Lemme fill out that subscription card.

[JamieFrevele]

I also made the decision not to renew Newsweek, and it's a shame because I'm a big fan of Jonathan Alter and other Newsweek writers. Now, I'm a die-hard leftie, and I wouldn't vote for any kind of conservative, but if they'd been so intent on hiring a far-leftie like Kos and balancing that perspective with someone on the right, WHY THE HELL KARL ROVE??? There are pundits and officials on the right who can express their opinions without being completely infuriating and who aren't blatant, pathological liars. As wrong as I think they are, and as much as their opinions anger me, I would rather read Monica Crowley or Joe Scarborough than the man behind everything wrong with politics right now. Newsweek will definitely regret this, though they sure are getting a lot of press for it, aren't they?

[nellieh]

When is newsweek going to start blaming Bill Clinton for all that has been going or will go wrong?

[WorkingClass]

Earth to News Week. Here is the problem with Carl Rove. Hi is a liar. A LIAR. A LIAR. A LIAR. Get it?

[dutchess2]

I, too, have cancelled my subscripton. When the list of doners for GWB's library is published, I will contact as many of them as I can afford to tell them that decent people do not contribute to the support or recognition of liars, and those who out CIA agents for political purposes.

It won't do any good, but somewhere, someone needs to know that good decent ordinary people are offended beyond their ability to express it.

[mellene]

I, too, can't imagine why they'd be seduced into hiring Rove to give him a platform to stir up more lies. Look what columns he's already put out in just a few weeks. I think he needs to be fired.

[frankdwyer]

I want to cancel my subscription so badly I'm thinking of getting one.

The defining image of the mainstream media in these happy days is David Gregory, grinning and fruging beside Ubu Rove.

[liz]

I agree completely with this post. There is no one on the "left" that would balance anything about Karl Rove in intensity of irrational hostility, lack of conscience, and ingoring or denying of reality. One would balance Kos with an intelligent, truth-seeking, rational commentator with a conservative slant or interpretation of events. I would even like to see that, though I don't think they need to duplicate George Will, AND they have Jow Klein.

I became a Newsweek subscriber my first semester of college with the student rate, have since renewed my subscription for 45 years, and given a gift subscription to my father every year. In February both expire and I will not renew them, and will send a letter letting them know why. Thank goodness for the blogosphere!

[HeevenSteven]

I've already emailed Newsweek to tell them I won't be renewing by subscription and why (Rove).

I doubt I'll get a response.

[eanderso]

Someone really needs to organize a boycott of Newsweek, or we need to get a massive letter-writing campaign going. In that spirit, here is the email address for Newsweek:

newsweek.comweek.com

And here's the letter I just sent:

Dear Newsweek Editors - After your brilliant decision to give Karl Rove a forum for his continued misinformation campaign (it's difficult for me to even use the word "information" in connection with Mr. Rove), I've decided upon the perfect Christmas gift for my family --- subscriptions to TIME and U.S. News & World Report. I'll be sending them along with the suggestion that they should not renew any existing subscriptions to Newsweek. Here's wishing you a Crappy Holiday and a Joyless New Year!

Sincerely,

Eric B. Anderson (a reader who refuses to have my intelligence insulted by "news" magazines.­..)

I know the "best wishes" part is a bit juvenile, but honestly..­.how can you wish anything but ill for Newsweek after this?