Two fellow TNR writers denounce Sean Wilentz's "Race Card" smear

[dailykoff]

Now that uber-racist and Clinton partisan Sean Wilentz is being relaunched as a World Famous Historian, it might be instructive to see how his fellow New Republic hacks assess two of his TNR articles, including his infamous "Race Man" article of Feb. 27:

1. Wilentz's first article: "The Delusional Style in American Punditry"
by Sean Wilentz, TNR, Post Date Wednesday, December 19, 2007:

Forget experience: Opinion-slingers are mooning over Barack Obama's instincts. Don't they remember how badly that worked out last time? Every now and then in American politics, normally balanced people get swept up by delusions of greatness about a presidential candidate, based on an emotional attachment to the candidate's oratory or image.

link: http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=1f22d28c-ced2-4761-b350-77f3513928ac


2. Cass Sunstein's denunciation: "A Mere Smear: Sean Wilentz's unfair attack on Barack Obama and his supporters"
by Cass R. Sunstein, TNR, Post Date Thursday, December 27, 2007:

Wilentz does deserve considerable credit--this is one impressive smear. Saying nothing about Obama's career or positions, Wilentz announces that there is a "delusional style" in American political punditry, typified by support for inexperienced, unqualified candidates on the basis of the delusional belief that those candidates have good "instincts." In Wilentz' view, the presidential candidacy of George W. Bush was merely the latest beneficiary of the delusional style.

link: http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=129d0545-4db1-4dfd-988c-2c6e1c807934
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3. Wilentz's notorious "Race Man" article: "Race Man: How Barack Obama played the race card and blamed Hillary Clinton"
by Sean Wilentz, TNR, Post Date Wednesday, February 27, 2008:

After several weeks of swooning, news reports are finally being filed about the gap between Senator Barack Obama's promises of a pure, soul-cleansing "new" politics and the calculated, deeply dishonest conduct of his actually-existing campaign. But it remains to be seen whether the latest ploy by the Obama camp--over allegations about the circulation of a photograph of Obama in ceremonial Somali dress--will be exposed by the press as the manipulative illusion that it is.

link: http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=aa0cd21b-0ff2-4329-88a1-69c6c268b304


4. Jason Zengerle's rebuttal: "Did Obama Play the Race Card?"
by Jason Zengerle, TNR, 27.02.2008:

Over on the home page, you can find Sean Wilentz's long brief trying to make the case that Obama has played the race card in his campaign--by accusing the Clintons of playing the race card. Or, as Wilentz puts it, by "deliberately, falsely, and successfully portray Clinton and her campaign as unscrupulous race-baiters." I'm unconvinced. To see why, let's take one of Wilentz's examples:

link: http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_plank/archive/2008/02/27/did-obama-play-the-race-card.aspx
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The New Republic is not exactly famous for objectivity, so for two of its writers to accuse Wilentz of manufacturing racist propaganda is pretty damning.