Pop quiz regarding this new post on the New Republic's website.

[Bleacher Creature]

Here's the beginning of the post itself.

"In early May, White House Counsel Greg Craig circulated a memo inside the West Wing. Part of a series of memos on protocol, it explained how to deal with writers researching books and articles on the White House. (Craig's unsurprising instructions: Clear interview requests with the press office.) While the memo didn't mention any journalists by name--and while there are currently no fewer than half a dozen major reporters under contract to write books about the nascent Obama presidency and the 2008 campaign, any of whom could conceivably end up embarrassing the administration--there is one person in particular the White House is undoubtedly nervous about: Bob Woodward."

http://www.tnr.com/talkback.html?id=7894e8ce-9773-4792-b66d-b6acfdbc6521

(SNIP)

Now, if you look at the comments, they start off with generally rational, even-keeled remarks about how Bob Woodward has lost all credibility entirely after ther Bush years. Starting somewhere between comments 10-20, they get truly vile and reflect every whacko right-wing talking point under the sun. Anyone care to guess the reason for the shift?????

By the way, last week, in discussing the Jeffrey Rosen debacle, Glenn Greenwald made the following comment about TNR: "If they had even a small amount of intellectual integrity, TNR Editors would be deeply ashamed of the central role they played in enabling this baseless, plainly false attack on Sotomayor as an intellectually deficient mediocrity. But for The New Republic, there is no greater source of pride than being approvingly cited by the Right with the "Even The New Republic . . . . " head-pat. That's their role in life, even if accomplished with patently reckless gossip masquerading as "journalism." That's one aspect of Obama's decision that is so commendable -- discarding the sleazy tactics from our corrupted establishment Beltway sources."

So true . . .