Matt Taibbi: "the Democrats have become captives of the money wing of their party"

[leftchick]

no shit....

Matt Taibbi, our newest Scrogue, is perhaps the premier political writer of his generation. He made his bones with Mark Ames at Russia’s legendary expat rag The eXile before moving on to The Beast and New York Press. He now writes for Rolling Stone and will soon release his fourth book, ‘The Great Derangement.’ He’s also covering the ‘08 campaign in a special RS diary entitled “Year of the Rat.” His caustic wit often compared to Hunter Thompson, he’s called Mitt Romney “a poll-chasing stuffed suit with a Max Headroom hairdo,” Tom Tancredo a “vengeful midget,” President Bush “a retarded Christian AA version of Woodrow Wilson” and gets Fred Thompson confused with Joe Don Baker. Taibbi was kind enough to answer some questions from S&R’s Mike Sheehan.

http://www.scholarsandrogues.com/2007/10/29/the-horror-is-getting-to-matt-taibbi/

<snip>

S&R: Steve Rosenbaum wrote recently in The Huffington Post that Jon Stewart “isn’t funny anymore,” meaning that the joke of the Bush years is on us and Democrats can’t and won’t do jack to change things. Your recent RS piece ‘The War Party‘ blasted the GOP presidential candidates as “fourth-rate buffoons.” Is this a good time for a major third party to formulate?

Taibbi: There’s never been a better time. Both mainstream parties are looking likely to nominate deeply flawed candidates. If the race comes down to Hillary and Giuliani, the Green Party could nominate Big Bird and win 28% of the vote. And a third party is definitely needed, since the Democrats have become captives of the money wing of their party.

[msongs]

1. there ya go, picking on oprah again nt

[jonnyblitz]

2. He also said mean things about Wes Clark once so Clarkies

HATE him.

[opihimoimoi]

3. What is this crap??? Is everyone in on it??? The Pubs have bought the mercs in?

America is Fucked

[BeFree]

4. Problem!!'

If the greens do get 28% that will come from dems and guess who wins? The puker.

Besides, who counts the votes is more important than who casts the vote. Big money aside, it is the grassroots which will make a difference in the election.... if they count our votes. Which leads to this question: Who counts your vote?

[Selatius]

5. There's no room for third parties.

With the voting system we have, Duverger's Law is in effect. You can't split the vote without handing victory over to the Republicans. That's the monopoly Democrats enjoy on the left, and the same holds true for Republicans on the right.

[OKNancy]

6. Can't stand him... he thinks Milosevic got a raw deal

and of course thinks Wes Clark is a war criminal. I'll never read one of his articles without
remembering his bias.

[Cha]

7. Don't count Cindy out, yet..matt.

"S&R: You expressed pity for Cindy Sheehan, who seemed overwhelmed by the anti-war movement she triggered in ‘05. After quitting activism earlier this year in disgust, she’s come back, saying she’ll run for Pelosi’s seat. Is she still a force?

Taibbi: I don’t know. Cindy Sheehan lost me when she started backing the 9/11 Truth Movement. I liked her personally when I met her — I guess more than anything I felt sorry for her — but my sense of her is that she is cracking a little under the stress of having to play the role of a grassroots leader, that this is maybe a little too much responsibility for her."

"The 9/11 Truth Movement"?? What an Outrageous Concept!

[leftchick]

9. Matt is all over the place

I believe he is having some sort of paradigm shift going on in his head.

[KittyWampus]

8. He's compared to Hunter T. cause he outright imitates him.

[JVS]

10. As a reader of 'the exile' since 1998, it's always fun to see what he's up to