Welcome to Swampland, Amy Sullivan!

Well, I suppose it's useful to be aware of "the intersection of faith and politics," just as it's useful to be aware of the intersection of hurricanes and metropolitan areas.

"where religion and politics intersect." Perhaps Pourmecoffee, sgw and 53.3 would welcome Ms Sullivan's views on how religion and politics intersect in Gaza and the Israeli settlements (Illegal?).

I enjoy Ms Sullivan's posts so look forward to them becoming a regular feature. Welcome!

Let's all welcome Amy into the fold. We already know she will be provocative enough to inspire animated discussion and in particular, on a day where many of the worst, most violent acts in the world taking place at precisely the point where faith interescts politics, the discussions are likely to be quite pertinent.

Well, she's been a pretty good reporter and poster here for a while. Looking forward to interacting here w/ her.
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I admit to being kind of suspicious of her-- I'm a bit afraid that her brand is putting out conventional wisdom about faith and politics, ie, her referring to a never-existing-in-reality "fight or flight" response from Democrats to faith matters (self-link to a semi-defunct blog). But it'll be fun to read what she has to say, and I may well be overreacting there.

This will sound mean spirited, but is there a Harvard/Catholic requirement to be a Swampland (Klein is token center/left of center Jew)contributor?
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I'm extremly disappointed about this. Perhaps Ms. Sullivan will surprise us all. She is the RW catholic's poor woman's version of Maureen Dowd, without the Pulitzer of course.

"As a senior writer for TIME... She joined TIME in 2007."
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Just like The Daily Show. Maybe KT can lobby for the Colbert "Super Senior" writer.

Interesting that they didn't clear out Mike Murphy's picture while they were at it.

PNNTO - Left standing after Time's Neutron bomb layoff's of 2008.

OK, Andy from MA, now I get to defend Amy Sullivan. Dowd writes a gossipy, "Entertainment Tonight"-like column about political personalities and her own fantasies. Sullivan writes about religion in politics. I really don't see how they compare.

What's the jump between writer and correspondent?

I didn't read much of the Gaza thread; I've avoided discussion of Israel for quite a while. But Jane has this post up (speaking of the intersection of religion and politics), which refers to this DK post and has Jane,Jane praising Joe Klein. (And rightly so):

The importance of what Joe Klein did in the face of intimidation tactics from the extreme right cannot be overstated. When Jenifer Rubin of Commentary Magazine called Klein an "anti-semite" for criticizing Israel and the ADL piled on and condemned him, it was pretty much just standard operating procedure for them -- tactics that had silenced many critics before. But Klein was totally (and appropriately) enraged by this kind of thuggery, and fought back publicly on the pages of Time.

Ha Andy I suppose you are right.
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Elvis, one thing that Sullivan and Dowd (by no means ONLY those two)have in common is they have use a predetermined script and fit whatever the reality backwards to fit it.
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Dowd-republicans strong, Democratic men weak and Democratic women man-haters.
Sullivan-Democrats hate God and so they will always lose elections unless they "reach out" to the same people who are sure they are going to burn.

Elvis, I must really seem like a curmudgeon today. I'm saying that they compare in both being non-value adds to the journalism profession. Using the lean six sigma operational definition of non-value add, they are something as a customer (consumer) of journalism I would not be willing to pay for.
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I would say their writing styles are similar while the content may be different.

PNNTO was better at explaining me than me. Thanks Paul.

Thanks for the welcome, everyone! And for what it's worth, Andy from MA, I'm an evangelical, not Catholic. "Sullivan" has thrown off many a booker looking for a Catholic commentator, so you're not alone.

Oh, I see, Andy, I read you too narrowly. I think the "Catholic" part threw me.
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As to whether Sullivan is a script-adherent like Dowd, reasonable people can disagree.
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So as long as you speak really soothingly, ignore everything inflammatory that I say and do, ignore public opinion data, and sell out your principles and constituencies on extremely important issues, we can get along just fine.

Amy thanks for clarifying your denomination. I jumped to a very hasty conclusion on your religion and I apologize for doing so.

Awful decision. For all those unfamiliar with and wary of Sullivan, let me assure you that your worst fears will be confirmed in short order. She is a hack of the highest order. She has nothing original to say, and she continues to hold fast to her opinions despite the fact that they have been discredited.

From what you've seen, who would win in a no-rules fight between Marvin and Bernard Kalb? Don't play favorites!

evangelical
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I've always wondered what that means. I was raised New England low church, Congregationalist. Does "evangelical" mean "recruits new members?" This would not include the NE low church people. But the anti-papism among that community, muted in the 20th century, but still palpable in the church architectures, and the absence of hierarchy.

"where religion and politics intersect"

I hate violence.

OT-
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Deborah Howell on a roll in her valedictory column. Until the last sentence. She finds remarkable that a conservative republican will miss Fred Hiatt and his crew.
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