Spencer Ackerman has a new new blog home at http://attackerman.firedoglake.com and today he's finishing up his first day there. It's a cool-looking site, and a great get for FDL.
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All New Attackerman
24 Jun 2008 08:10 pm
Comments (29)
Fired from thinkprogress, eh?
kid jumps around more than house of pain.
What the hell - is he trying to be the Nolan Ryan of the blogosphere (I'm talking about the number of teams, not the heat he brings)?
Lemme see - TNR, TPM, CAP, American Prospect, Think Progress, and of course his own gig at THFTNR...have I missed any?
Several of the above beat me to it. Was Ackerman fired from Think Progress?
Hm, did he skullfuck another terrorist?
I've heard his next blog will be Too Hot for FDL. I don't think he really belonged on a think tank affiliated website. He would probably be accepted at IPS, but he is probably too respectable for that socialist outfit.
Yeah, so he's MY's buddy and all but THFTNR has been less than thrilling and maybe this is one hothead the blogosphere would be better off without.
His insight:attitude ratio is way off.
If anyone cares, here is the Google Cache version of Ackerman's post explaining his departure from Think Progress. Attempting to link directly to the post doesn't work, and I don't know if Ackerman has posted his archives at his new place.
He explains, iirc, that while he retains the greatest adminration and gratitude for Think Progress, he is too foul-mouthed and by preference too overtly political for the environment they wish to create and their tax status, respectively. Hence his departure on good terms.
I note, though, that Ackerman does not, in his current version, appear to actually include Yglesias in his new blogroll.
Yeah that is a good point. Obviously he is a smart kid but he doesn't have enough to make him readable. His persona is kind of annoying. The whole TNR battle was kind of sad...
Ackerman's new blog is TOTALLY EXTREME!!!!!!
Attackermen is too extreeeeme for Think Progress.
/Mountain Dew
@Fanciepants,
I just now saw your comment. I hate you now (and myself).
Attackerman was also maybe too hip for TP, what with all the song lyrics for titles.
Warren Terra:
Is Ezra Klein listed? McMegan?
Give Spencer a break: he's reasonably smart and looking at the right issues. If anything, my problem with his work is that he's too conventional wisdom, actually too in tight with the US military doctrine/ perspective.
It's good that he's out there. What happened to his stint at the Washington Independent? Anyone have an explanation there?
I admit I don't actually bother to read any of his blogs. I don't know if that secretly says something contrary to what I just said. I don't read firedoglake, either. I like ironic, brief, cutting smack as dropped by MY, rather than dripping-with-frontal-assualt overheated rhetoric, like FDL.
Spencer's strength is his full-length reporting, IMO, but maybe he'll find his blog voice at FDL. I thought today's posts were a good harbinger, and I still can't stop watching that damn Usher video.
My above post was just a joke. I think this Ackerman is a very important voice and I appreciate his rage and filthy mouth. He is not really a left-wing hothead. If anything, he is, as glasnost says, too Serious on foreign policy. Like soldierman, Abu Muqawama, he has internalized a lot of the flawed assumptions behind American imperialism.
His battle with TNR was wonderful, I don't know what commenter Biff (a New Republic intern?) is talking about.
P.S.: the new and improved TNR is printed on glossy 100% pulped Arab.
What happened to his stint at the Washington Independent? Anyone have an explanation there?
Looks to be still going strong there.
Like most other people who have commented, I think his "Attackerman" style was out of sync with the rest of ThinkProgress, and is a much better fit at FDL. Kudos to Spencer for recognizing that.
For those who missed it:
http://firedoglake.com/2008/06/24/spencer-ackerman-now-on-the-fdl-couch/
This should be fun...
N/m, I should learn to read.
I think his "Attackerman" style was out of sync with the rest of ThinkProgress, and is a much better fit at FDL.
Funny, that, though, given that FDL culled its most acerbic blogger before its major makeover.
Well, that was a seriously boring blog - aside from the Perlstein-Buchanan discussion - which, however, was ancient history. Who gives a shit about Nixon these days? Perlstein is obviously an asshole, and Buchanan still thinks it's the '70's.
Meanwhile, "Hey, you want some white men to tell you about foreign policy, right?"
No. I want someone with a brain and some knowledge. Which clearly isn't this crowd:
"Well, have I got the white men for you! At Netroots Nation in Austin on July 18 at 1:30, there's a panel on Iraq featuring myself and my friends Matthew Yglesias, Ilan Goldenberg and A.J. Rossmiller. Join us, won't you, as we discuss Iraq and other things that white people like, including tapenade, digital photography and Keith Gessen."
Yeah, right, I'll buy my plane tickets now...
Better yet, let's hope Osama bought his plane tickets by now...target: Austin.
"If anything, my problem with his work is that he's too conventional wisdom, actually too in tight with the US military doctrine/ perspective."
That sounds about right, based on what little I've read by him. His posts on Petraeus were bullshit. He actually thinks Petraeus has a clue - which means he doesn't.
Ackerman's early posts on Petraeus were positively fawning ("he knows about Turkmen!"). I'm sure he's a great guy in person, means well, etc., but really, I never come away from his writing thinking that I've learned something important that I didn't know before. He's got a lot of attitude, but most of that attitude goes into reflecting a certain DC center-left foreign policy consensus.
That masthead is keeping it so real, I went temporarily blind from gazing upon it.
I can't read Attackerman because all the post titles being hip hop or other lyrics is really annoying and not creative and it makes me see red with rage.
I seem to have started a discussion about the unreadability of FDL since their redesign (which is germane since it's why I won't be reading Ackerman at his new home) over at K-Drum's place. C'mon over if that topic interests you; why clutter up multiple threads with it?
So, is Spencer rapidly climbing the internet pundit ladder, or is he making a bunch of quick lateral jukes?
Funny, that, though, given that FDL culled its most acerbic blogger before its major makeover.
True, but I vaguely recall that it had to do with his choice of targets than his style per se -- TRex excelled at baiting wingnuts, and I think there was concern that FDL was becoming too identified with that rather than a broader "activist" persona (though this is all guesswork on my part).
That said, I nearly added to my comment that Attackerman might be a better fit with the FDL "voice" than many bloggers posting there already (perhaps including myself!).
Comments closed July 08, 2008.
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Heads in the Sand
Spackerman's not so good at holding down a steady gig, is he?
Posted by nolaboyd | June 24, 2008 8:13 PM