Paging Ms. Stassinopoulos

TNR has a fairly mean-spirited profile of Arianna Huffington. But buried under the needless Wieseltierian jabs are some decent insights:

Huffington is one of those writers who mistakes press criticism for the entirety of social and political criticism. Her condescension toward the press is endless: "Someone please alert the media: not every issue fits into your cherished right/left paradigm. Indeed, that way of looking at the world is becoming less and less relevant--and more and more obsolete. And more and more dangerous." After reading these sentences, I checked the book's cover to make sure that I was reading a book called Right Is Wrong. That looks pretty binary to me. To understand Huffington's current place in the media universe, it is necessary to recall that a visceral dislike of the traditional press has always been the animating feature of so much of her work.

Count me as an Arianna fan - since I first heard her on the radio in my high school days in England. She has the balls to change her own mind and ignore various establishments, even as she furiously attempts to construct her own.