Who is Nicholas Lemann?

I am shocked--shocked!--that Nicholas Lemann, dean of Columbia's journalism school and the man who hired leftist Victor Navasky to run Columbia Journalism Review, would pen a piece hostile to the Bush administration and get his facts wrong in the process.

(Hat tip.)

What passes for conventional wisdom at the New York Times

Opening paragraph of a book review by Michiko Kakutani, regular NYT book reviewer:

Even as more commentators on both the left and the right are using the adjective “incompetent” to describe the administration of George W. Bush, historians like Douglas Brinkley, Sean Wilentz and Eric Foner have begun to argue that Mr. Bush is in contention for the title of worst president in history, citing reasons like the metastasizing war in Iraq, a ballooning deficit, the mishandling of Hurricane Katrina and a widening credibility gap.

Well, maybe the Iraqis, and the U.S., and the world, and the War on Terror, too, but who's counting them?

Joe Klein at a Washington Institute’s Special Policy Forum:

If the policy [President Bush has proposed for Iraq] succeeds, the only ones who would benefit are those in the administration.

Quote of the day

Loren B. Thompson, December 2006:

The controversy over what to do about Iraq has congealed into two camps: supporters of the President who lack a clear plan for achieving victory, and critics of the President who have a detailed plan for America's defeat.

(Via this path.)