[link|http://time-blog.com/swampland/2007/01/running_massacre.html|Jay Carney, 01/17/07]:
Of course! It all makes perfect conspiratorial sense! Except for one thing: in this case some liberals are seeing broad partisan conspiracies where none likely exist.
[link|http://time-blog.com/swampland/2007/03/note_from_underground_1.html|Jay Carney, 03/02/07]
If Iglesias names names, and others tell similar stories, I will take my hat off to Marshall and others in the blogosphere and congratulate them for having been right in their suspicions about this story from the beginning.
[link|http://time-blog.com/swampland/2007/03/where_credit_is_due.html|Jay Carney, 03/13/07]
My hat is off. Josh Marshall at TalkingPointsMemo and everyone else out there whose instincts told them there was something deeply wrong and even sinister about the firings, and who dug around and kept writing about them while Iglesias decided whether to talk to the press or go quietly on to his next job, deserve tremendous credit.
When this story first surfaced, I thought the Bush White House and Justice Department were guilty of poorly executed acts of crass political patronage. I called some Democrats on the Hill; they were "concerned", but this was not a priority. The blogosphere was the engine on this story, pulling the Hill and the MSM along. As the document dump proves, what happened was much worse than I'd first thought. I was wrong. Very nice work, and thanks for holding my feet to the fire.
As someone more patient than I am said in the comments section after this last post, "Jay, a little advice for the next year and a half, though I can't believe you haven't figured it out yet: When it comes to the Bush Administration, assume the worst. It saves time."

Of course, none of this will sway the Bush dead-enders, who must be very patient characters, but it will be interesting to see whether the sensibilities of the public have become anywhere near as scorched and numb as those of the Potomac press courtiers.

cordially,