One important aspect of my thinking and reading that doesn't get much airtime here is policy and politics, mainly because that's not why you're here (if indeed anyone is here). But I have to say something to say about the current controversy regarding a blogger at the Washington Post named Dave Weigel.
I haven't actually read Weigel, and I think some of statements that he made in emails and later got fired for making, even though they were supposed to be private, were in very poor taste if not indefensible. But I am quite simply amazed to see him grouped with Ezra Klein, who I do read every day, as "partisan."
To me, a partisan, at least in the current political climate, is a writer who is not just coming from a particular perspective, but who distorts or misrepresents the facts to argue for policies and politics he likes. (Someone like George Will or David Broder or Charles Krauthammer, say, and more problematic, many of the political writers for both the Times and the Post. These guys invent a story they like, and then try to support it).
Ezra speaks the truth as far he knows it, and if you dispute his facts, I expect him to figure out the truth of it and respond. That is one of the reasons why I like him so much. He's a factual guy. He also has great sources.
The central policy problem of our age is that Republican propaganda (think Fox News or the Washington Post editorial page) is seen as normal political discourse. Lying about the facts does not help move the country forward. That's my belief.
If you're interested, here is my current daily blog reading list:
Matt Yglesias
Ezra Klein
Taegan Goddard
Steve Benen
Kevin Drum
TPM
James Fallows
Tom Ricks
Brad DeLong
Stephen Walt
Bernard Avishai
