Categorical Aperitif

Digby made me laugh this morning:

Greenspan is, of course, an uber-villager, married to one of the most important beltway media mavens and who, for the past two decades, was considered a living example of the the non-partisan wise man. Except, of course, he was actually an Ayn Rand extremist who grubbed around in politics with as much glee as any Louisiana congressman. But you couldn't say that. In fact, during the 2000 election we came close to having him legally declared a living God --- a Pharoah of Finance, who could not be questioned lest the sun turn cold.

I've come to think that many of the "wise men" and "uber-villagers" into whom Digby routinely tears with great style and glee are really more like wiseguys in the Mafia sense: made folk who cannot be touched, even by their own stupidity and incompetence, at least according to the rules of the rigged game played by the Washington-corporate-media elite. But democracy means that the rest of us don't have to play that game, and the biggest reason why I've come to love the blogosphere (and the internet in general) is that it reminds of us that fact on a daily basis.

And that, I think, is why so many Beltway insiders hate it so. "Pay no attention to the dog pulling back the curtain."