OxBlog

# Posted 1:39 AM by Ariel David Adesnik

CONGRATULATIONS! YOU'VE BEEN SCORNED BY THE LIBERAL ELITE! OxBlog sends out warm wishes to Ross Douthat of the American Scene, who has become the subject of a condescending profile in the New York Observer entitled "A Pisher's Privilege". Sometimes I wonder if the people who write these profiles understand that their scorn and condescension only enhance the career prospects of those they look down at. Anyhow, here's the money quote:

Mr. Douthat is the latest example of a relatively new and somewhat alarming breed: the Ivy-educated instapundit. Gone are the days when new graduates would toil in journalism for a few years—as a copy boy or intern, perhaps—before getting their first meaningful byline, never mind their first book deal.

It's called meritocracy. Deal with it. Matt Yglesias adds:

There is nothing alarming whatsoever about Ivy-educated instapundits...The only alarming thing is that we don't all have book deals featuring "a $120,000 advance."

When asked if he thought his friends would be jealous, Ross responded, "I mean, well I would be!" Well, Ross, let me pay you the ultimate compliment and say that I am jealous. It's not just the money. Any chimp with a Harvard degree (and there are quite a few) could become an indentured servant on Wall Street and make $120,000. But Ross is getting paid the big bucks to do something substantive and something he loves. That's what I'm jealous of.

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