Why O Why

Brad DeLong likes to ask, "Why o why can't we have a better press corps?" Because I'm less elevated, I often wonder, "Why o why can't someone kick Richard Cohen square in the nuts?"

At least today we have the next best thing, in the form of some particularly fine writing by Chris Floyd:

"They were doing what they thought was the right thing." Has there ever been any faction in power anywhere in the world, in any state, at any time, who didn't think their policies -- however harsh, brutal and stupid -- were "the right thing" to do? And has there ever been any such clique or elite or Establishment that didn't have well-paid, well-wadded, comfortably ensconced courtiers and apologists ever eager to assert the essential goodness of the high and mighty, whatever unfortunate mistakes the great ones might make as they carry out their sacred duties?

Cohen is a brilliant exemplar of this ubiquitous human phenomenon. The entire column radiates a self-satisfied yet self-abasing obeisance to the powerful. All tastefully done, of course: your middlebrow maven is not a base bootlicker like, say, Hugh Hewitt or Michelle Malkin or all the other frothing wretches on down the radical Rightist media food chain. No, your middlebrow -- especially those who actually sup on occasion at the tables of the great (or at least scoff weenies at the same parties) -- never licks the boots of power; he or she just...brushes the lint from power's collar, helps power adjust its tie, fetches coffee when power wants it, picks up power's laundry and brings it by the house on the way home from work.

Don't miss the rest.

AND: Chris also did a recent interview with Antiwar.com radio.