Swamp Diamonds (issue #2)

In his new Swampland post Joe Kline accuses Bill Clinton of being a “messy spouse on the campaign trail” because a couple of his fellow reporters think so. Or something. Kline also rewrites history in the article (“Oh No, Mr. Bill”) by asserting that he defended the Clintons during the 1990s: (For those who were not born yet, I defended Clinton through Whitewater and Lewinsky, although I was occasionally critical--as were more than a few members of the White House staff--of the First Lady's reluctance to be more forthcoming on Whitewater and of the Big Guy's prevarication on Lewinsky. Still, I didn't think these, or the other scandalettes, were very serious.) But Greenwald reminds us that Kline wrote “The Politics of Promiscuity” early in the Paula Jones scandal that fueled the journalistic focus on Clinton’s sex life. According to Joan Walsh, the article was “widely quoted because it gave a justification for delving into the president's seamy personal life.”

The commenters went at it:

“two days before the not-so-crucial Nevada caucuses the Hillary Clinton campaign's message is all about Bill.” The campaign is issuing press releases, statements, and speeches focused on Bill Clinton? Really? Or do you mean the *media* has decided to focus on Bill? Those are two very different things, Joe. Otto Man

As usual, Glenn Greenwald owns your lying sorry ass. JC

I wonder if Joe even knows that Teh Google exists. Joe Kline’s guilty conscience

Joe, I don’t think your qualification of “those who weren’t born yet” is quite accurate. The phrase you’re looking for is “those who were born yesterday.” Those of us who weren't know that you're a fucking liar. Zack

The fact that Joe Klein “apparently” remembers his big break the exact opposite of how it happened in reality is somewhat amusing. (For those of you who weren’t reading or watching news 15 years ago, he mostly defended the media swarm and was only occasionally critical of it.) Hating on Bill Clinton was his big break into national media punditry spotlight, such as it is. Aaron

The Best of the Thread, oddly enough, didn’t attack Kline directly:

The media is obsessed with Bill Clinton's importance in this campaign. Half the time they think Hillary Clinton couldn’t be elected to a local school board without being married to him, and half the time they think he’s destroying her campaign. I’m hesitant to say this is all caused by sexism - although for people like Chris Matthews, it clearly is - but it is interesting that the media coverage of the first viable woman candidate for President is so frequently focused on her husband. Yes, he’s the former President. But we all know about his presidency, and, frankly, we’re more interested in Hillary Clinton now.

One reason the media missed the signs of Clinton’s comeback in NH was that they were so focused on Bill Clinton. I saw so many articles comparing the crowds he was getting to the crowds Obama was getting. But the media completely missed how she was effectively changing the central election question from change vs. experience, to talk vs. action. The media love to listen to Bill Clinton, and they’re happy to write thousands of words on the tone of Hillary Clinton’s voice, but they honestly seem disinterested in what she actually says. Rose

I found Rose’s comment (199 words) more thoughtful and insightful than Kline’s article (201 words), and that’s why I comment trawl.