The boy in the bubble : CJR

Feature — September / October 2012

The boy in the bubble

Ezra Klein rewrites the role of Washington wunderkind

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So the activist-turned-opinion journalist is becoming more radicalized. If the last decade is any guide, wherever Ezra Klein’s politics go next, American liberalism will go as well. Whether the latter will still be a force for change is something the rest of us won’t know until Klein is at least 29.

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I see that the ostensibly libertarian author is increasingly burnishing his establishment credentials. Good for him, and savvy too: CJR is a great place to solicit brownie points from the statist elites.

#1 Posted by Dan A., CJR on Tue 4 Sep 2012 at 05:00 AM

I've been an admirer of Ezra Klein's work since the early days of the debate on health reform. As a proponent of the single-payer Canadian system, I hope I can be counted among those who urged him to study the health care systems of other nations.

But having done his homework on health systems that are both cost effective and humane, Ezra joined the "political feasibility" gang, allowing Obama and Baucus to keep single-payer off the table, accepting the insurer-dominated and hopelessly inadequate ACA. Would Ezra, the objective, even-handed reporter, have used the political feasibility argument against the suffragists, against the civil rights movement? Let's hope not.

Given his smarts and current megaphone, I wish he'd stand up and holler, "We Americans are paying twice as much for health care as taxpayers in other countries, yet we tolerate poorer outcomes, and leave millions uninsured. How can we be so dumb?"

#2 Posted by Harriette Seiler, CJR on Tue 4 Sep 2012 at 10:37 AM

Hollering "We (Americans) tolerate poorer outcomes" would be a fabrication. I don't think fibbing should be encouraged.

#3 Posted by KP, CJR on Tue 4 Sep 2012 at 11:46 AM

Matt's "libertarian" readers at Reason.com skip the time-consuming words in this article and get right to the Klein-bashing, journalist-hating, obscenity-laced, envy-riddled screeds for which narcissistic, "libertarian" commentators are infamous. Eschewing thoughtful, on-topic commentary for adolescent tantrums, they continue to wonder why so few Americans take them seriously, and why libertarianism, as a political movement, is moribund.

#4 Posted by Ed, CJR on Tue 4 Sep 2012 at 12:09 PM

INTERESTING STORY, but I wonder if there are not some folks, like Willie Geist, originally from the middle of the country, Vanderbilt, who would also serve as 'star profile' journalist fodder..

#5 Posted by Howard M. Romaine, CJR on Tue 4 Sep 2012 at 02:21 PM

Welch: Keep your head up and ignore the anti-libertarian slights. Kudos on a solid and balanced writeup that, even for one who has worked in same newsroom as Klein, gives shape and an informative context to the trajectory of his career. yours - anonymous pinko-liberal news editor

#6 Posted by pyetrovich, CJR on Tue 4 Sep 2012 at 03:50 PM

Hear hear, pyetrovich. I read every word of the article and I agree: Welch bent over backward (forward?) to balance the article on that phony left-right fulcrum. Well played, Mr. Self-styled Libertarian Magazine Editor guy. Well played.

#7 Posted by Dan A., CJR on Wed 5 Sep 2012 at 08:30 AM

Here's something funny: Todd Aiken is a very, very stupid man. However, he has more real power than 100 Ezra Kleins.

Ezra Klein is the most important journalist in Washington. That's very faint praise.

#8 Posted by oodoodanoo, CJR on Fri 7 Sep 2012 at 07:51 PM

Thanks for an excellent summation of what makes Ezra Klein one of our better policy advocates and analysts. What I find so refreshing about Klein is his dedication to full understanding of the matters he discusses, without indulging in the greatest downfall of most politicos with little life experience outside of academic circles -- he avoids the personal and anecdotal in favor diving into research. Unlike so many other bloggers and columnists whose reliance on self-reference and occasional (Googled?) pithy quotes, Klein takes the time to build his case, present complex issues effectively, and provide plenty of references and links to back up his assertions.

#9 Posted by Jeffrey, CJR on Fri 7 Sep 2012 at 08:01 PM

This is a fine article, but as an outsider to progressivism Welch is confused about the significance of "The New Republic" and the slogan "even the liberal New Republic." I'm 41, I've been following politics since I was a teenager, and my first memory of TNR was its full-throated defense of Reagan's Central America policy; the Wikipedia article on the Contras has a long quote from its editor Michael Kinsley defending their attacks on Nicaraguan civilians. It hasn't been progressive for as long as I can remember.

In the 1980s, Michael Kinsley was joking about how TNR was so often cited taking conservative positions that it should change its name to "even-the-liberal-New-Republic." (As in "Even the liberal New Republic says it's OK to shoot up cooperative farms," I suppose.) It didn't originate in the blogosphere, and Frum's joke inverts the classic line. There are liberal journalists who are TNR alumni, but its relationship with liberalism has always been fraught.

#10 Posted by matt w, CJR on Sat 8 Sep 2012 at 02:22 PM

I have been reading Ezra, Daily Kos and Sullivan for years. Not because I always agree with them. but because I thought they were the ones making the best arguments. They seemed to care about facts and used them to create their arguments. When history, facts or conventional wisdom was against them they dealt with that honestly and tried to give you multiple sides of the argument.
I agreed with Ezra that politically a single payer option was not going to happen, but I think Ezra's big fault was in making it too easy to deal away spo without extracting a political cost from Republicans. Consumers should be able to choose a public option. Why are Republicans supporting limiting customer choice?

#11 Posted by Colleen, CJR on Sun 9 Sep 2012 at 11:26 AM

"Consumers should be able to choose a public option. Why are Republicans supporting limiting customer choice?"

Why are they trying to kill the post office?

http://www.esquire.com/_mobile/blogs/politics/the-post-office-lives-8757430

It's what they must do.

#12 Posted by Thimbles, CJR on Sun 9 Sep 2012 at 12:18 PM

this story is an embarrassment. ezra klein is a partisan hack who doesnt even write stories. all he does is link to, and pontificate on, others' work. how is he even a journalist?

#13 Posted by ick, CJR on Mon 8 Oct 2012 at 05:53 PM

Ezra is wonderfully refreshing, extraordinarily smart and in spite of his lisp that so many people talk rudely about (and he has obviously had speech therapy because clearly, it has almost disappeared) Ezra captures the essence of every issue he speaks about, simplifies them to make the complex seem simple and is on the road to having his own show before his 30th birthday. Watching Ezra host The Ed Show with such ease and comfort would make any parent or follower proud. Clearly, I am an Ezra fan and look forward to seeing, hearing and reading more of him.

#14 Posted by David Cohen, CJR on Fri 12 Oct 2012 at 09:32 AM

About the Author

Matt Welch (matt.welch@reason.com) is editor in chief of Reason and co-author of The Declaration of Independents: How Libertarian Politics Can Fix What's Wrong With America.

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Feature — September / October 2012