A New Day
I'm delighted to be helping out with TPMDC and TPM's coverage of the new administration. I've been a fan of Josh Marshall and the site for a long time and it's nice to be a part of it. I continue to write for Conde Nast Portfolio, where I'm a contributing editor, as well as its website, and other publications. But I'll be doing a lot here, trying to make sense of this new era and what it means. I covered the Clinton and George W. Bush presidencies for mainstream media outlets like Time and Newsweek, but I have deep roots in publications like this, having started my journalism career at The Washington Monthly and later having written the "White House Watch" column for The New Republic. Like so many people I'm deeply interested in two questions: How will Barack Obama solidify his political power and pass his agenda and will it work to address both the financial crisis and the country's longer-term problems. I don't know what the answers are but hopefully in a dialogue with you, the readers of TPM and its off shoots, and through reporting and thinking hard we'll begin to get them. It's good to be with you.
Josh
Matt
Eric
Brian
Welcome!
Keep your hands and arms inside the car at all times and watch your fingers :-)
January 19, 2009 11:12 AM | Reply | Permalink
First on TMP DC...sorry. Had to.
January 19, 2009 11:26 AM | Reply | Permalink
falme
January 19, 2009 1:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Matt Cooper, huh? Interesting hire.
I guess if you wanted someone who knows what it takes to get inside access to DC politics, you could do worse that Cooper. The bad taste from the Scooter Libby thing, and what it revealed about the press' role in enabling Bush is still pretty fresh for me.
Welcome aboard. Hope you've got some thick skin, but understand any feedback you get from me will be honest. Looking forward to your work here.
January 19, 2009 11:38 AM | Reply | Permalink
I agree strongly with the comment here. I've always thought one of the strengths of TPM was Josh's background in MSM, while not falling into many of its foibles. Cooper seems to be a representation of the MSM, good and bad. I'm not quite sure I want that at TPM. I liked it much better when TPM was launching people to the MSM. Made me feel better about both.
January 19, 2009 12:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ah, Matt Cooper of the infamous Valerie Plame leak fame....
January 19, 2009 11:42 AM | Reply | Permalink
Why aren't the comments coming through?
January 19, 2009 11:44 AM | Reply | Permalink
A welcome addition to the TPM crowd. One of the few MSM'ers who "got" the importance of the blogosphere long ago, Mr. Cooper is ahead of the game in general.
January 19, 2009 12:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Cooper is one of those "trustworthy" journalists who steadfastly refused to allow the Constitution to trump the lawless, anti-Constitutional politics of subversion by means of which the Bushit criminal enterprise was unconstitutionally appointed.
And then there's the Plame matter: "scoop" is more important than national security.
I was an original supporter of TPM when it started 8 years ago. But I'll be here even less than I have been lately, what with the flood of "gay"s whining about others than themselves making public issue of being "gay" -- as if who is "gay" matters outside the privacy of one's bedroom -- the hypocrisy of which is stomach-churning.
January 19, 2009 5:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
So, you believe Matt Cooper standing up for the First Amendment is collaboration in Bush's assault on the Constitution? And LGBT activists and their allies complaining about assaults on civil and human rights annoys you?
Perhaps you should limit your presence here.
January 19, 2009 7:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ummm... Methinks he doth protest too much?
HA!
January 20, 2009 8:03 AM | Reply | Permalink
JNag has always lived up to the moniker. But it's true, does not visit these parts so much anymore.
In my view gays have every right to stand up! And I'm happy to stand up right with them.
January 20, 2009 9:41 AM | Reply | Permalink
Whoa
January 19, 2009 12:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Matt, will you take a vow never again to publish a story based on anonymous highly-placed sources?
I'd hate to see TPM get played like Time was played.
January 19, 2009 12:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't recall Matt Cooper ever writing an article based on Rove's leak about Ambassador Wilson's wife. Can you please cite the article(s) which you are referencing? If not, perhaps you should refrain from looking uninformed by posting questions based on false premises.
January 19, 2009 7:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
"A War on Wilson?" -- Thursday, Jul. 17, 2003
January 19, 2009 11:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's EXACTLY because Cooper is so tied to the complicity of the MSM in propping up Bush/Cheney that I think Cooper ought to be welcomed at a respectable lefty site. Because it is a site that can hardly escape a liberal label. Or a determination to expose those who do rotten lacky work.
Truth has a liberal bias, ...yah, yah, it's true.
Will his billiousness be tolerated in a place like this?
Do you think Cooper doesn't know he's jumping into a shark tank? I believe he does understand that he cannot vend such phenomenal poor judgement here. I think he perpetrated cowardly acts, but that doesn't make him a completely incorrigible idiot. He may find his debt to society paid on these threads. He does get the immediacy and the demanding scrutiny of the blogosphere.
I welcome his arrival at TPM.
January 20, 2009 1:39 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, it looks like his contribution -- based on what has happened so far -- will be to twitter the location of his very important person on a daily basis so that we can all enjoy the stratospheric circles in which he moves. The new journalism in action.
January 20, 2009 11:01 AM | Reply | Permalink
Josh Marshall will now float in those circles. That's okay by me.
Will Josh fall prey to human weakness and ego, too? Maybe he's immune to all of that, but we'll find out.
January 20, 2009 1:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think to solidify power Obama has to confront the pernicious, collaborative message control efforts by the artificially overconsolidated radioTVnews media interests (what billmon called The Mighty Wurlitzer). One of the GOP's greatest fears is an independent FCC; the other is the internet. Obama needs to hit them with both barrels.
January 19, 2009 12:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Ch-ch-ch-changes! Like the new logo. Welcome, Matt!
January 19, 2009 12:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Wow.....why do I feel the need to suddenly sit up straight and take my feet off of the coffee table?
January 19, 2009 1:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Interesting.
I look forward to your posts, but must admit that I share some of the reluctance of other commenters. I prefer TPMers going into MSM rather than the reverse, honestly.
January 19, 2009 1:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
One way to introduce yourself. How about not touching the elephant in the room. Valerie Plame!
Thanks for swallowing all the BS from Karl Rove. You could spit. I'll make every effort avoiding this page.
January 19, 2009 1:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
Another take on this, Matt - how about specifically addressing the issue of Joe Wilson/Valerie Plame and your role in propagating the leak, ASAP? Many here (certainly including me) are going to be very skeptical about you due to that episode in your history. If you don't deal with that up front, and engage in discussion about it with the community here, it's going to dog your every step and poison your tenure here.
January 19, 2009 1:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
What do you mean? I see self-righteous indignation, but I don't see much knowledge about Mr. Cooper's actions. Matt Cooper isn't Judith Miller and he sure as hell isn't Robert Novak.
January 19, 2009 7:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
I've been around since TPM year one. Color me skeptical and disappointed.
January 19, 2009 1:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
welcome. can someone (other than matt, no offense) give me their capsule version of MC's role in the plame treason? all i know is:
rove tells cooper that plame is CIA
fitz threatens coop to reveal source
coop gives up rove(?), doesn't go to jail
it's all kind of a blur to me. i remember something about novak feasting on human remains, but that could have been any time in the last 80 years.
January 19, 2009 1:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
typo - 1800 years
January 19, 2009 1:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Josh, I'm disappointed that you'd hire Matt Cooper. Seriously. I'm sure he's great over at Conde Nast, or whatever bullshit job he has, but this chump shouldn't be anywhere near Washington.
And I know that you journalists get your rocks off on your whole protecting-your-sources bullshit, but that's just you all talking to yourselves. It's people like Matt Cooper who helped the Bush Administration commit it's worst crimes.
Why hire a tool of Karl Rove? Do you really think he has what it takes to cover anything with any dignity? Is there any way your readers can respect him?
I know I can't.
January 19, 2009 1:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
What did he do that you find so offensive? Be specific.
January 19, 2009 7:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
BrendanM (or may I call you Matt?) you are all over this site trying to defend Matt's (your) egregious acts. Why? You seem to be unaware of Mr. Cooper's (your) role as enabler to the Bush administration's most toxic and vile BS.
January 20, 2009 12:09 AM | Reply | Permalink
Welcome! I can see the skepticism expressed here, but I guess this is going to be a very interesting experiment w/r/t how the MSM and the netroot journalism can interact.
Looking forward to your posts Matt.
January 19, 2009 2:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
from the forthcoming musical Valerie!
ROVE
Oh,
Wilson's wife is fair game
I never even mentioned her name
How lame is the claim
'twas my aim to defame
that dame
that Valerie Plame
WILSON
Oh
Plame she was my old flame
after twenty years i still feel the same
at long last
at long last
January 19, 2009 2:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
AT LONG LAST SIR HAVE YOU NO SHAME???!
January 19, 2009 2:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Cooper @ TPM?
Josh and the rest who pretend to be crusaders against MSM, would not blink to be the MSM themselves.
A special seat and a open door even for those who were just sidekicks on the MSM.
Dissappointed.
Hopefully- Cooper will change and not TPM.
January 19, 2009 2:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
On a different note, I'm not a regular on TPM anymore- Is Sargent still around?
I don't see any post authored by him on the website.
If he's gone, it would be shame.
January 19, 2009 2:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Kash, good to see you! Re: Greg Sargent - speaking of TPM/MSM crossbreeding, Greg has a new gig at the WaPo - some blog thing, don't believe it has started up yet.
January 19, 2009 2:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
It really is a shame.
January 19, 2009 2:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
kash, he left word that he could be reached at sargegreg@gmail.com. I believe that was the email.
I miss you, kash! :)
January 19, 2009 4:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
I am not sure what MC did that was so bad. Seriously. He is a big-time player within the mainstream media. From what I recall, he was given some confidential information about a CIA agent. As a result of this leak, a prosecutor looking into the criminality of the leak asked MC whether he'd been given this information. Initially, MC refused to testify when called on the ground that his source hadn't permitted him to make such information available. Once the source indicated that he could cooperate, MC shared the information with the prosecutor.
Because MC cooperated, we shouldn't necessarily criticize him. The larger question, though, is this: how could a reporter who witnessed a crime be prohibited from sharing what s/he witnessed (i.e. how could a source be allowed to prevent the reporter from cooperating with the government?).
By intentionally outing a CIA agent, the Bush folks committed a federal offense. Those who witnessed that offense -- reporters and others --should testify to the facts they witnessed.
January 19, 2009 2:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
I agree with 90% of what you've written, Mateo. I think what you miss is that it was Cooper here who was complicit in the crime. He was going to refuse to testify. A source shouldn't be able to prevent a reporter from testifying, but that was Cooper's position; that was the principle that Cooper was intent on upholding. And he was willing to do it for Karl Rove.
There really shouldn't be any sort of "shield" law for journalists, and Matt Cooper is the reason why. He was a tool for the administration.
January 19, 2009 2:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
and how does the press act as a check on the government if the government has the right to know the press' sources?? your lack of respect for journailsm reveals your lack of respect for the first amendment which makes you no better than the right-wing thugs you ultimately resemble.
January 19, 2009 3:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
And many people tend to feel that the "mainstream media" helped the Bush Administration along by not engaging in critical analysis of the administration. My reservations about Mr.Cooper aren't due to the fact that he cooperated with the federal investigation. They're due to the "big-time player" and MSM bit.
January 19, 2009 2:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Moi aussi.
January 19, 2009 4:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
the problem of course is that you can't know if a crime has been committed without FIRST compelling the journalists to reveal their sources.
your proscription amounts to an open invitation to fishing expeditions which essentially nullifies the basic principle of confidentiality that is the foundation for freedom of the press.
January 19, 2009 3:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Protecting a source who has committed treason and then speaking only after securing that source's permission amounts to aiding and abetting ... treason. I mean, I'd have a little more respect if Cooper had been willing to go to jail. The whole journalists-protecting-sources doctrine arose in order to protect the weak from the strong, not the other way around.
January 19, 2009 2:24 PM | Reply | Permalink
How utterly disgusting that TPM would hire Karl Rove's butt boy. I think Cooper's hire means we're watching a demonstration of how an effort that begins as a noble cause evolves into a business and ultimately degenerates into a racket.
January 19, 2009 2:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well hell, let's give Matt some credit here. He didn't actually lick Rove's butt, just leaned way up near to it.
Matt Cooper, start proving you belong at TPM, or get gone.
January 19, 2009 2:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
man, a LOT of misplaced vitriol here.
perhaps some of you folks could share with everyone else what EXACTLY it is that you imagine cooper did wrong. be sure to include your position on whether or not there ought to be a federal shield law and how you expect the press to act as a check on the gov't without one.
i don't think you'll find anyone more outraged by the outing of valerie wilson than i, but when it comes down to dividing the cast of characters into good guys and bad guys, matt cooper does not end up in the bad guys column.
January 19, 2009 2:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
Some of us have, at least by implication, done what you ask. To be specific: While a shield law is not necessarily a bad thing, an ethical journalist would not use such a law to protect criminals in high places and would limit his or her use of such a law (if it existed) to the protection of whistleblowers and other innocents who would be harmed if their identities were known. Admittedly, these things are not simple: there is some considerable gray area in which a journalist might be justified in protecting a lawbreaker in the service of exposing a larger crime. I do not believe Karl Rove falls into that gray area, do you?
January 19, 2009 2:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
so journalists can only use good guys as confidential sources unless they use bad guys to get bigger bad guys???
January 19, 2009 3:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
The law is a blunt instrument. I'm not against a shield law, but a reasonable code of journalistic ethics would direct journalists to make use of such a law in ways that do not abet treason or other high crimes.
January 19, 2009 4:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
Who does, in your estimation?
January 19, 2009 3:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
among the main characters, the only journalists who clearly belong in the 'bad guys' column are bob novak and judy miller.
January 19, 2009 3:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Novak I understand, but why the distinction between Miller and Cooper in this instance?
January 19, 2009 3:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
miller was given permission from libby to testify. she chose to not respond to the subpoena anyway. her lack of cooperation with the grand jury investigation went well beyond protecting a confidential source.
January 19, 2009 3:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
I already gave people a link to what he did, in his own words.
It puts the story in the best possible light, and it's pretty damning.
Jane Hamsher's take on the tale is a bit less flattering.
January 19, 2009 3:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
again:
i didn't ask what happened. i already know what happened. the question is, what specifically do YOU think cooper did wrong? and what is your position on a federal shield law?
January 19, 2009 3:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Any Federal shield law must exclude press contacts within the top (policy-making) levels of the Administration. That would mean contacts with cabinet members and their assistants, direct advisors to the President and the Vice President and their assistants, Press Secretaries and their assistants, members of the Joint Chiefs and their assistants, and with anybody communicating to a reporter under instruction from any of these persons.
The only reason for such exclusions from a federal shield law is the press corps' demonstrated willingness to act as sock-puppets for such people.
Cheney's Libby leaking WMD lies to Judith Miller that are published anonymously in the NY Times, and then cited by Cheney on Meet The Press, should be reason enough for anyone to understand why Judith Miller should have immediately burned Scooter Libby as her source for the WMD lies on the following Monday.
If the Press won't insist that top-level Administration officials be on the record, then the law must make it easier for them.
January 19, 2009 5:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
though in linking to the hamsher article, you are the first person in this thread to even come close to putting their finger on the part of the story that i think is problematic for cooper.
January 19, 2009 3:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Shield laws cannot be used to protect those who have committed a felony. To do so is an obstruction of justice, the very crime for which Scooter Libby was convicted, the very reason why Fitzgerald could not move on Cheney -- because Libby's obstruction made the object of obtaining justice impossible. Cooper is just as guilty as Libby ever was and perhaps moreso, because Libby was at least acting in the service of what he construed to be his job, while Cooper was purposely failing to do his job, using the "protection" of a mythical interpretation of a shield law to cover his fat, repulsive ass.
January 19, 2009 3:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
January 19, 2009 3:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
That one or more felonies had been committed had already been established at the time Cooper chose to clam up about what he knew. He was not in the slightest concerned about "Freedom of the Press." His concern began and ended with his desire and need for "access" to the criminals who kept him supplied with copy, and for whom he was more than willing to perform as a stunt monkey at their correspondents' dinners. I don't care if the treacherous motherfucker writes like a talented saint, he doesn't belong on TPM.
January 19, 2009 5:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't have a problem with Cooper contributing at TPM, but editor-at-large?
A Bill Moyers or a Travis Smiley better reflect the TPM brand to be editors- for Godsakes- Cooper? Last time I checked Editors shape the tone, the balance and the direction of news coverage and analysis.
Do we really want Cooper brand of journalism on TPM?
Second, it is insulting to all those new media writers and editors who toil days and years to find some MSM airhead- a Rove sidekick not to mention- come in and become an editor of a progressive news site.
January 19, 2009 3:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
You know, in the old days, during the Vietnam War, I used to be a rabid supporter of the press against its critics, who were almost always right-wingers with an agenda. There was a time in American history when the press was a worthy and responsible institution. That era ended, I think, sometime during the Reagan administration. Reporters and editors began seeing themselves as part of the power structure rather than standing in opposition to it. Bob Woodward is the ultimate exemplar here, but guys like Matt Cooper are different only in degree, not kind. The mainstream media in the US at this time -- with precious few exceptions -- is a part of the problem, not a part of the solution. The media will excrete an inky cloud of bromides about the first amendment, but the truth is that speech is free, for these guys, only for those who pay for it. (Their advertisers and the corporations that own them.) That's why, as a long-time reader, I am deeply disappointed to see TPM (which has done a good job exposing corruption over the years) cozy up to power by hiring a guy like Cooper.
January 19, 2009 3:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
What you said!
January 19, 2009 4:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, I trust Josh until he gives me reason not to.
Welcome Matt. I don't comment much for reasons that are probably clear reading some of these other comments! But I read here all the time and look forward to seeing this new site develop.
Good luck in your new gig.
January 19, 2009 5:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Welcome, Matt...Sounds like you are going to have your work cut out for you with this crowd! I wish you success in proving yourself, and look forward to seeing what you add to site that I treasure.
January 20, 2009 12:56 AM | Reply | Permalink
After reviewing Matt Cooper's employment history: the Hew York Times, Time, Newsweek and Portfolio.com etc, why would he be interested in TPM (no offense Josh!)?
He's never been known as a progressive, nor has he ever shown any interest in progressive issues. Only one answer comes to mind: he's looking for online credibility via association!
Iam aware of the job cuts within MSM, but I am not going to help rebrand, rehabilatate and redefine Matt Cooper post Plame!
January 20, 2009 1:37 AM | Reply | Permalink
Fascinating.
I've gotten used to watching one great TPM writer after another defect to the traditional media, but this is the first high profile TM guy to go the other way.
A "The Wire"-esque drama could be made of all this based on the inevitable conflict between the journalist as an exposer of truth and the journalist as a person whose paycheck is paid for by those who perpetuate the lies and whose success is reliant on access to those who create the lies to begin with.
I've held true to my 7 year boycott of TV, newspapers and magazines, instead turning to sites like TPM. Now shades of grey are creeping in. Should I suspect TPM as it gets bigger and bigger? Should I give lying criminals at ABC a chance because an ex-Muckraker works there?
Fascinating.
January 20, 2009 3:23 AM | Reply | Permalink
But while Matt Cooper's arrival might be great or not so great, there is one problem with TPM that must be addressed immediately.
EVERYONE NEEDS THEIR OWN PICTURE!
If it can't be determined who had the little dude with the powdered wig first, everyone should relinquish it.
January 20, 2009 3:27 AM | Reply | Permalink