Today is Day Two of Arianna Huffington’s way-hyped group blog, the Huffington Post, and….My God! It’s as bad as everyone says it is!
The strategy of Washington conservative-turned-Hollywood liberal (and spectacularly failed Dem gubernatorial candidate in California) Arianna seems to be to find a bunch of celebs–and ex-celebs like onetime Dem presidential candidate Gary Hart (remember him?)– and have them pontificate on important issues like the Iraq war and gas prices. Then throw in a couple of ancient news stories and hold your nose.
Here’s a sampling from today’s posts:
“Are we, or are we not, building permanent military bases in Iraq? Yes or no? If we are withdrawing ALL troops, we do not need permanent bases. If we are building military bases, we do not intend to withdraw all our troops. Simple as that….
“So, are we? Or are we not?”
“Whether in life or politics, it is impossible to make informed decisions when you are not properly informed. The mainstream media has abdicated its responsibility to the American people, and we all suffer for it. The press must be held accountable before it is too late.”
Bill Maher (advocating soybean oil as an “alternative” fuel for the car):
“The only question is’which Bush are we going to get on this issue? The ‘let’s not and say we did’ Bush who provides lip service to alternative fuels while signing an energy bill’like the current one pushed by House leaders’that commits 94% of its funds to the oil and gas industries, or the resolute cowboy Bush who can embrace new ideas so crazy they just might work.”
Someone named Jay Gordon:
“When we use strong medications to alter hormones in teens and even in adults we forget that human hormonal balances are delicate and that tampering with levels of a hormone in one part of the body may produce consequences-and danger’in other parts of the anatomy.”
Are you asleep yet?
And when you roll other parts of your anatomy–your eyes–over to the Drudge-mimicking “news” section of Arianna’s blog-page, you get this:
“Bill Clinton Mounts Ten-Year Campaign Against Fast-Food Industry”
He oughtta know.
and:
“Vanity Fair Does [Jeff] Gannon/[James] Guckert: Fake Reporter by Day, Gay Escort by Night”
No!
Even the usually tart former IWF-ie Danielle Crittendon, one of the token wingers (along with Jim Pinkerton) whom Arianna has hired to contribute to the blog, delivers spectacularly flat-footed humor today–which may be the result of having Gary Hart as your co-blogger.
Now, Arianna’s blog does feature a scoop today: Someone got hold of a copy of Gerald Posner’s new book, Secrets of the Kingdom: The Inside Story of the Saudi-US Connection,” due for official release a week from today. (That probably wasn’t hard: Review copies of the book undoubtedly grace every newsroom in America.) According to Harrington, Posner reports that the Saudis have their oilfields booby-trapped with nuclear weapons in case of a foreign attack–and that’s news.
Of course, Posner and his publicists have been hinting at this revelation for weeks on Amazon.com, which promises that “Secrets” will reveal:
“…the never-before-revealed Saudi and U.S. emergency plans in the event of a national crisis in the Kingdom, plans that could affect the security of the United States and the entire Middle East.”
So all someone had to do was leak a copy.
My advice is: Danielle, grab Pinkerton’s hand and run. Be very afraid of what the Huffington Post will do for your reputation as a pundit.