TNR issues apology, fires writer for misleading readers

[ProSense]

Lee Siegel is no more

Another Friday news dump:

An Apology to Our Readers

After an investigation, The New Republic has determined that the comments in our Talkback section defending Lee Siegel's articles and blog under the username "sprezzatura" were produced with Siegel's participation. We deeply regret misleading our readers. Lee Siegel's blog will no longer be published by TNR, and he has been suspended from writing for the magazine.

Franklin Foer
Editor, The New Republic

Snip...

Update: People in the comments are digging up some choice comments by Siegel's sockpuppet. This one is my favorite thus far (from here):

How angry people get when a powerful critic says he doesn't like their favorite show! Like little babies. Such fragile egos. Siegel accuses Stewart of a "pandering puerility" and he gets an onslaught of puerile responses from the insecure herd of independent minds. I'm well within Stewart's target group, and I think he's about as funny as a wet towel in a locker room. Siegel is brave, brilliant, and wittier than Stewart will ever be. Take that, you bunch of immature, abusive sheep.

more...

[Sparkly]

1. I like this one

"Groupthink from a mob of bullies cowering behind their user-name aliases. Groupthink! Groupthink! Naaa naaa naaa-naaa naaa!"

Written while he was, well, "cowering behind his user-name alias."

I'd missed all this, so thanks for posting! :hi:

[Hissyspit]

2. Again? New Republic went in the toilet along time ago.

Ironically, even a corrupt "In-flight Magazine of Air Force One" is not corrupt enough for this administration.

[Phredicles]

3. Sounds like Siegel IS an expert on "puerile".

[MADem]

4. That's some funny stuff!! NT

[carolinayellowdog]

5. Right move, wrong reason

He should have been fired long ago for being a malevolent idiot. That was obvious from his writings long before the sockpuppet incident.

[Totally Committed]

6. The New Republic reflects the mindset as well as the politics of the DLC..

Given how I feel about THAT bastion of DINORepublicanism, you can imagine how much I love this magazine... NOT!

Ugh.

TC