Nowthat’s a panel discussion! A heated debate between Time magazine’sJoe Kleinand the New Republic’sJamie Kirchickspilled
off the dais Tuesday into a hallway confrontation where Klein called
the younger pundit a “dishonest [expletive]” and a “[expletiving]
propagandist.”Klein told us today he’s not sure he uttered the “propagandist” bit
— heard by a few witnesses — but stands by the “dishonest
[expletive]” part.“Absolutely. He’s a [expletive],” Klein, 62, told us. “He’s 25 years
old, and he’s one of those people who has opinions but no facts or
experience.”
Far be it from me to defend somebody who spends all his timegiving out-of-context tongue-baths to Charles Krauthammer, but what the fuck does Kirchick’s age have to do with anything? As usual, without seeing his opponent’s Boy Wonder Journalism Badge and Merit Patches, Joke can’t assess the argument. I would have a lot more sympathy for Joke’s position here — because really, Kirchick kind of sucks, and clearly took Klein’s comments about Krauthammer way farther than Joke meant them — if Joke hadn’t hauled the goddamn YOU’RE NOT OLD ENOUGH FOR YOUR OPINIONS canard out of his bag of canards.
That one makes me crazy. I mean, I’m sorry these kids today get columns
when you had to work for yours way back when, but go bitch to someone
who cares. Or play in traffic. Whatever. Just fucking argue the point. God, these people make me tired. You can be right about something even if you’re not a 62-year-old. There is no age you must attain, no test you have to pass before you can make an ass of yourself in America’s leading publications. Something for which Joke should thank God every single day.
A.