Philosopher-Pundits of the World Unite

It's quite true that would Eli Lake says here is nonsense. That said, BarbinMD at DailyKos takes things too far when she writes: "By the way, did I mention that Lake majored in philosophy in college? Currently writing for the New York Sun, he apparently couldn't find a job in his chosen field."

I majored in philosophy, damnit (so did Spencer Ackerman and Julian Sanchez), and it's a perfectly good thing for journalists to study. In some ways, I think it's actually the best thing to study. The job, by its nature, involves trying to quickly learn and write a lot about a wide range of subjects. Under the circumstances, spending your student years trying to master a skill-set that's completely divorced from knowledge of particular facts is pretty useful. If you're good at spotting flaws in the arguments constructed by others irrespective of what the topic is, you'll never lack for things to write about.