TPM Reader KH gets in on the Paul Ryan pinot noir action:
If TPM reader GT feels constrained about returning to your site to populate it with his hits, I will counter with this: Publicizing the rapacious appetites and boorish behavior of the super-rich makes me that much more prone to return to your site. Therefore I feel confident to state that if TPM reader GT leaves you in the lurch, I will have your back.
Regarding editorial policy on TPM, however, I notice a somewhat troubling habit that crops up occasionally, so allow me to comment on it. Calling special attention to the decidedly contrarian views of individuals such as TPM reader GT without acknowledging the many opposing responses you receive to such a story (presumably along the lines of “fuck, yeah!”) is becoming a predictable trend.
I think TPM has a special responsibility not to allow spurious attacks on Feinberg’s motivation and lifestyle to appear under it’s masthead. To paraphrase a great American: I get a little more frustrated and a little less likely to return to your site each time I see such faux-outrage over actual outrages dominating your reader mail coverage.
Paul Ryan is a policy maker, and as such his behaviors should be held to a higher standard. Any focus on the amount of the bill for his confronter’s dinner is unseemly in my opinion. She represents nobody and has no ability to set policy affecting the livelihoods and pocketbooks of other citizens. Paul Ryan is free to do whatever he wants with his family money, including buying wine. He would never be able to consider picking up the tab for the second bottle if he relied solely on his congressional salary. Which is kind of the point that TPM reader GT seems to be working so resolutely to miss.
