_Martin Schneider writes:_
I like this “list”:http://www.forbes.com/2009/01/22/influential-media-obama-oped-cx_tv_ee_hra_0122liberal.html of the 25 most influential liberals in America than the one Tunku Varadarajan, Elisabeth Eaves, and Hana R. Alberts turned out this week for the _Forbes_ website. (Quibbles aside, of course.)
Hendrik Hertzberg finishes at number 17, a couple of spots behind questionably liberal writers Maureen Dowd and Christopher Hitchens. The spot description runs: “Foremost among a tribe of opinion writers that waged a form of moral war against the Bush administration, he has the purest voice in the choir of the East Coast liberal ‘high church.'” But is that really true? (Come to think of it: that role might be taken by Frank Rich, who curiously goes unmentioned.) Anyway, I’d’ve emphasized the unusual grace of his writing style instead—hey, is scrupulous scribbling a path to power?
As I indicated, the list is hard to question, by and large, especially the top pick. But I subscribe to the notion that influence accrues to the regime’s opponents: Rush Limbaugh rises in the Clinton years; Jon Stewart under Bush. Overall, this group is in for some rough years.