Simon Schama is a deservedly distinguished British historian, but his interview with Arianna Huffington in this weekend’s Financial Times is possibly not his finest hour. It concludes as follows:
Arianna Huffington may not single-handedly be changing the nature of journalism in American life, but against the s***-storm of hatred and rage that is currently engulfing the country the “countervailing force” of the [Huffington] Post does good strong work. So it’s not just the flashing wide smile, the merry look in her eye and the proffered cheek which, as we say our goodbyes, makes me feel warm in the happy hour; it’s that brand Arianna with its unrepentant embrace of social indignation and its laying about the fatuous and unjust has exactly what these miserable times call for: intelligent high spirit delivered with no mumbling or shuffling or equivocation. And then there’s that other thing she gets out online 24/7 and is not to be slighted: the truth.
Good grief.