This is what we get

For all the conservative blowhards howling up and down the radio and TV dials and soiling the Op-Ed pages of papers across the country, there are at least a few left-leaning, right thinking folks out there competing. Unfortunately, they lack both the killer instinct and the...well, balls to go toe to toe and fight back.

And then, of course, you've got Nick Kristof, who is appropriately pilloried in this Slate column by Jack Schafer. His crime, this time? He picks a foolish fight with Bill O'Reilly, placing himself on the same level as the "loudmouth who knows no truth" (that's his Indian name).

Read it yourself, but I want a new team for the battle. Most of our guys are done before they started, relying on the "we're not perfect, but we're certainly better than those guys" argument that only lends credibility to "those guys" and hands them ammunition.

It's a painful read, short of this gem about O'Reilly:

Don't get me wrong. Bill O'Reilly deserves it in the shins—or even higher—at least two times a week. His bullying, grandstanding, and modern know-nothingism make him a plump target.

Modern know-nothingism. I like the sound of that.