So far I’ve received lots of email from longtime Atlantic subscribers, liberal and conservative. Everybody agrees with me. This one captures the sentiment nicely and is very nice to boot:
Jonah,
Thanks so much for your comments about The Atlantic.
As a subscriber for ten+ years, I wholeheartedly agree
with your assessment of both Michael Kelly’s
remarkable impact on the magazine as well as their
current path. (Which, as you quickly point out, is
not horribly biased by any means, but still feels
disappointing if for no other reason than the high
standard the magazine briefly attained).
For what it’s worth, I’m a fiercly liberal reader of
The Corner and your writing in particular. What I
find among some Corner writers (Ramesh, you, Kurtz) is
exactly what I look for in The Atlantic. Namely,
logical, intelligent debate that helps challenge my
own thinking and broaded my perspective. I really
don’t need to read many more ideologues who confirm my
own world view. And I certainly I don’t need more
polemicists to tell me why I am an idiot (or a child
molester, thanks Derb!).
What I seek, and what I think our country needs, is
more conversation. I need to read both liberal and
conservative viewpoints in order to make sure I don’t
live in a bubble, in order to make sure I’m thinking
clearly about an argument and, in order to make sure I
make informed choices.
At its best, this is exactly what the Atlantic has
provided. It’s a voice that presented political and
cultural issues from a number of perspectives. A
voice that transcended the idiotic left/right
framework we seem unable to escape. It’s a voice I
dearly hope they retain.