Snark. In the newest issue of Bookforum, critic Sven Birkerts ruminates on what he considers to be the regrettable rise of the snarky book review, taking as his starting example Dale Peck's hatchet job on Rick Moody, written in 2002. "Psychologically [the literary] landscape [is one that is] subtly demoralized by the slash-and-burn of bottom-line economics; the modernist/humanist assumption of art and social criticism marching forward, leading the way, has not recovered from the wholesale flight of academia into theory; the publishing world remains tyrannized in acquisition, marketing, and sales by the mentality of the blockbuster; the confident authority of print journalism has been challenged by the proliferation of online alternatives. [...] All of this leads, and not all that circuitously, to the question of snark, the spirit of negativity, the personal animus pushing ahead of the intellectual or critical agenda. Snark is, I believe, prompted by the terrible vacuum feeling of not mattering, not connecting, not being heard; it is fueled by rage at the same."
posted by Prospero on Apr 4, 2004 - 27 comments

Single life is fine till about 30, then normal people marry. Neil Steinberg fires a trollish, yet illuminating salvo across the marriage gap.
posted by 4easypayments on Jan 29, 2004 - 77 comments

‘We can say “God”, “God” is fine, but we have to be very careful about anything that involves the name of the Lord and Saviour.’ Tory MP and Spectator editor Boris Johnson reflects on the process of getting a breezy op-ed past the editorial process of the Gray Lady. Jokes at the expense of the President of Guinea just aren't done.
posted by riviera on Mar 21, 2003 - 9 comments

Amusing Op-Ed piece on this year's Anti-Drug Superbowl ad "But this has got to be good news for some. Infertility clinics are in for a big surprise with this one. Forget all those expensive, painful procedures. Simply grab some weed, and boom-boom!" [NORML article]
posted by skallas on Jan 29, 2003 - 53 comments

Sean Penn totally disses President Bush in the Washington Post but because he did it in a full page ad and not an op/ed column it is totally unlinkable to those of use on the web, and therefore dies on the vine. Two questions: How can one find the full transcript to Penn's advertisment, and why is it that only Republican movie stars are allowed have their voices heard in political discussions?
posted by tsarfan on Oct 19, 2002 - 64 comments

The president's real goal in Iraq Assumption is that this is to be an undeclared true beginning of American imperialism, as America takes on role of the policeman of the world. Overwrought or spot on?
posted by Postroad on Oct 3, 2002 - 43 comments

If You Want to Talk About Class Warfare... Molly Ivins gives it to 'em: Some days, you have to believe that right-wing ideologues have lost touch with reality completely. Their latest proposal to prevent future Enrons is - ta-da! - cut the capital gains tax. And exactly what does that do to prevent future Enrons? Nothing.
posted by Ty Webb on Aug 15, 2002 - 9 comments

The Coming Democratic Dominance "...ever since the collapse of the Reagan conservative majority, which enjoyed its final triumph in November 1994, American politics has been turning slowly, but inexorably, toward a new Democratic majority. It was evident in Al Gore's popular-vote victory in 2000 (made more significant by the overhang of the Bill Clinton scandals and Gore's ineptitude as a campaigner) and in Bush's and the Republicans' sinking fortunes in the first two-thirds of 2001. It was obscured by the patriotic rush of support for Bush after September 11, which to some extent carried over to the Republican Party as a whole. But it has resurfaced in recent months as Americans have turned their attention back to the economy and domestic policy and away from the war on terrorism. Far from being a temporary distraction from a long-term shift toward the GOP, popular anger at the business scandals and the plummeting Dow heralds the resumption of a long-term shift toward the Democrats. " (via george)
posted by owillis on Aug 1, 2002 - 44 comments

Antidote to the Liberal Monotone: Blogging After reading MetaFilter for a while, I would assume that blogging ticks off all people, left and right, equally. Does exposure like this on a major Op-Ed page show that blogging is on the verge of becoming something big?
posted by dewelch on Apr 4, 2002 - 49 comments

Bush is no idiot - or so claims this opinion piece from The London Times. "What a pity that President Bush’s critics haven’t learnt to leave the playground, and its insults, behind." What Bush has done is "show that a conservative isn’t just a leftwinger with better table manners but an honest defender of superior principles."
posted by revbrian on Apr 11, 2001 - 28 comments