Josh Marshall Blogger of the Year
Apparently our great benefactor, the grand poohbah, the prince of punditry, the acme of analysis, the best blogger, the... uh stop me before I alliterate again. Anywho, Josh is too modest to toot his own horn. So I toot-toot in his stead:
Josh Marshall won "Blogger of the Year" award (in absentia) at The Week magazine's Opinion Awards dinner at the Four Seasons hotel Tuesday night.Marshall won the award for his relentless coverage of the U.S. attorneys firings scandal -- and the White House's behind-the-scenes role in the firings.
Since Rove himself was accused of having a role in the firings, the moment was a bit awkward.
Marshall, who also won a George Polk Award for his work on the story, posted thousands of internal Justice Department e-mails and memos on his blog, which became mandatory reading for anyone following the unfolding
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Mazel tov!
April 10, 2008 1:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
But you missed the best part:
It's Klassic Karl!™
The man doesn't deny the accuracy of Josh's reporting. He doesn't dispute the allegations. He limits himself to challenging the evidence of wrongdoing. And, of course, because it's Karl we're talking about here, even that's a bamboozle - there was loads of evidence in the documents that Josh posted to the site. Enough, at any rate, to spark congressional hearings and numerous federal probes.
It's enough to feed a little bit of nostalgia. Oh, for the days of Fleischer and Rove, when the White House never found an inconvenient fact it couldn't deny, or a truth it couldn't twist.
April 10, 2008 8:05 AM | Reply | Permalink
Ari was quite an act. I used to miss him until Wolfson showed up.
April 10, 2008 11:37 AM | Reply | Permalink
For my money Ari Fleischer was the best. I was really sad to see him go. He reminded me of Neo during the famous bullet-dodging scene in the Matrix. Of course, his follow-up by Scott McClellan left me feeling much the same way that the follow-ups to the Matrix made me feel: awkward and disappointed.
Tony Snow was something of an improvement, but his approach wasn't oblique enough to rival Ari's. I think the concept behind Dana Perino is the subterfuge provided by a cute blonde. I don't know if it's just an act or not, but admitting that she had to go home and ask her husband what the Cuban missile crisis was is an expert touch if it's all just for show. Of course, Helen Thomas remains admirably unimpressed.
April 10, 2008 6:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
I find the Dana Perino strategy the most brilliant of all, and I bet they are kicking themselves for not discovering it sooner: put someone who is entirely incompetent and uninformed in front of veteran journalists, and make all of her responses so awkward and cringe-inducing as to provide no believable soundbites. Who is a better liar- someone who knows the truth, or someone who is too stupid to tell the difference?
April 11, 2008 12:06 AM | Reply | Permalink
Most of the really intelligent, terminally literate people I know consider Josh the Walter Cronkite of th internet.
And he's so young, his future is very bright.
April 10, 2008 12:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
THIS IS EXCELLENT NEWS!! FOR HILLARY!!!
April 10, 2008 12:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
idiotic: {{{{{MWAAH!}}}}
it's a kiss. you're a joy.
Josh, you earned it. Very good work and ever so much appreciated.
April 10, 2008 1:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, very well done, indeed, Josh. Keep up the excellent work.
April 10, 2008 4:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
I like to think that Josh is scaring the crap out of traditional rags like the grey lady. While they've discovered that they can't get people to buy their content and are being forced to shrink operations, Josh keeps adding new staff and expanding TPM.
Also, Bill Moyers has said that he starts his day with Josh Marshall and ends it with Jon Stewart. How cool is that?
April 10, 2008 6:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
And you saw, or at least read this Moyers piece. All of it. Right?
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011908A.shtml
April 10, 2008 9:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
That is so cool I am going to write it down and stick it out the window and change the weather.
I dearly love Bill Moyers.
April 10, 2008 9:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Josh;
Let me add my name to the congratulations. It was Amy Goodman from Democracy Now that first made me aware of TPM. I have become an avid reader every day since I discovered TPM.
I think TPM has the best coverage of the Primary Race available. Kudos to you Josh!
PS-I cannot for the life of me see why anyone thinks you are a Hillary supporter!
Keep up the good work Josh and congrats again!
David R. Wilbur, Esq.
April 10, 2008 10:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'll tell you what I want to congratulate TPM for: finally putting make-up on Josh's pasty skin! It makes all the difference in the world, and TPMTv is almost watchable!
Awards like this are great, especially as we hope for a more egalitarian future that the web seems to promise. But it is really sad that the US Attorney coverage was nothing more than asking questions, making calls, reading the law appropriately, etc. You know, journalism? Our press is so entirely corrupt that the subversion of our system of justice, at the highest levels, can be better covered by a dude with a telephone, email, the web, and a pot of coffee. I mean, fuck, yes, I'm using the word "fuck" here, a US Attorney was shot. In the neck. In his home.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_C._Wales
April 11, 2008 12:21 AM | Reply | Permalink
And yes, I know he was an assistant USA.
April 11, 2008 12:23 AM | Reply | Permalink
congrats, Josh.
April 11, 2008 1:19 AM | Reply | Permalink