« Nice Riff | Main | The unbearable lightness of being in bed listening to the new Sufjan Stevens record »
July 07, 2005
Out of respect, I will not make a pun based on things her name rhymes with
Note: I actually wrote this yesterday, but kind of forgot to publish it. Hrm.
So Sarah Vowell is the newest addition to the parade of guest contributors who have temporarily taken Maureen "Why be informed when you can be catty?" Dowd's space on NYT's op-ed page. This shouldn't come as a shock to anybody, but I think that a pretty stupid idea. Now, don't get me wrong here, I like Sarah Vowell a whole lot. In fact, I've liked most of the people who've been in that spot since Dowd left to work on her next worthless book (I especially liked that one guy). And it's certainly the case that all of the op-ed temps are infinitely preferable to the full-time owner of that column. My beef is just that the NYT has this chance to turn their op-ed page into a forum for new and challenging ideas instead of the usual lefty cheerleading offset by David Brooks's pseudo-provocatuer sniggering. Do I think they should get another legitimately right-leaning voice over there? Maybe, but that's not the only answer, as Matt Miller so expertly proved.
No, when you get right down to it, the main problem with the NYT's op-ed page is exactly the problem with the American left: namely, a complete lack of actionable ideas. All we ever get from Tom Friedman or Paul Krugman (both of whom I respect, and whose columns I enjoy) is a statement of what's wrong with whatever it is they're talking about. While it's important to know what the problems are with, say, our policy in Iraq or healthcare funding, what's missing from these columns, and from the debate in general, are progressive solutions. If Sarah Vowell is going to offer some, then bully. But I somehow doubt that that's why she's there.
By the by, if you're so inclined, you should pick up today's FT. It has a fantastic piece by Martin Wolf wherein he asseses the merits of both sides of the African aid debate. He is much smarter than me.
Posted by matt at July 7, 2005 10:07 AM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.greenideasblog.com/movabletype/mt-tb.cgi/3405
Comments
Post a comment
Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)
(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)