Commonweal Magazine
Published on Commonweal Magazine (https://www.commonwealmagazine.org)

Home > The Hackiest Hacks of 2011

Salon's Alex Pareene [1] doesn't know me, but for the second year running he has given me a terrific Christmas present: the Hack List [2], his roundup of the worst political analysts and commentators in the business. Last year it was called the Hack Thirty [3], and I posted about it here [4]. This year there are just twenty hacks named, with a focus on their doings in 2011. Some names (like David Brooks) appear again; others from last year who didn't make the cut are included in an appendix: "Hack List Alums: Where Are They Now?" [5] Pareene builds a strong case against each honoree. He's merciless, and hilarious. My favorite of this year's takedowns was number 5, Katie Roiphe [6], who, he noted, has gained attention once again "for being a reliable source of controversial-sounding contrarian anti-feminist bullshit" who "also writes very badly about the Internet and people on the Internet who are mean to Katie Roiphe." Also very deserving is number 3 [7], who inspires this cheering observation: "One upside to Americas frothing populist hatred of intellectuals is that we dont produce many Bernard-Henri Levys."

(I love the present, but not the wrapping - Salon always manages to make it difficult for me to find the things I want to read, and impossible to find them again. Right now I can't find an easy way to link to more than the first five "hacks." I imagine they'll fix that eventually, but for now I recommend going to the list of Pareene's posts [1], finding the "earlier articles" link at the bottom, and moving backward that way.)

As a bonus, Pareene offers a reminder [8] that the late Christopher Hitchens "was disastrously wrong" about the Iraq War, and his death shouldn't prevent us from acknowledging that. His take on Hitchens is not a eulogy, but seems entirely on-target to me.

Mollie Wilson O’​Reilly is editor-at-large and columnist at Commonweal.

Please email comments to [email protected] [9] and join the conversation on our Facebook page [10].

Share
  • Share [11]
  • Twitter [12]
  • Print [13]

Newsletter

Commonweal's latest, delivered twice weekly

 
 

Subscribe

How you can read Commonweal

Subscribe

Donate

Support Commonweal's future

Donate

Source URL: https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/hackiest-hacks-2011

Links
[1] http://www.salon.com/writer/alex_pareene/
[2] http://www.salon.com/2011/12/15/welcome_to_the_2011_salon_hack_list/
[3] http://www.salon.com/2010/11/25/the_hack_thirty/
[4] http://www.commonwealmagazine.org/blog/?p=11125
[5] http://www.salon.com/2011/12/16/hack_list_alums_where_are_they_now/singleton/
[6] http://www.salon.com/2011/12/16/5_katie_roiphe/singleton/
[7] http://www.salon.com/2011/12/16/3_bernard_henri_levy/singleton/
[8] http://www.salon.com/2011/12/17/when_hitch_was_wrong/singleton/
[9] mailto:[email protected]
[10] http://www.facebook.com/commonwealmagazine
[11] http://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/hackiest-hacks-2011
[12] https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/hackiest-hacks-2011
[13] https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/print/27610