Josh Marshall sheds light on the New Normal

Over at Josh Marshall's Talking Points Memo he's been engaged in an email discussion with a friend that reminds us of a key affliction of the New Normal: the need to fight back on the quarter-hour. To quote Josh's friend, "Discrediting a critic's argument isn't enough, because it takes too much time in an environment when time is everything."

That's why it isn't enough to discredit Jack Murtha's thoughful, heartfelt call for a change in policy through well-constructed and effective counter-argument, the administration must destroy him. It's quicker.

Wasn't that tactic employed against John "Sitting Duck" Kerry back in '04 when he got swift-boated?

What is it with this administration, which almost to a man didn't serve in the armed forces, that it finds it expedient to viciously attack decorated war veterans in order to keep their war efforts on-track? (Hat tip to Andrew Sullivan.)

Just asking.

While we're insinuating stuff, does the media with its 24/7 news cycle and the Internet with its "always-on" reality bear any blame for making politicians and their spinmeisters feel they have no choice but to lead with firepower, and damn the civility of rational debate? Is the genie out of the bottle, is this New Normal permanent, or can it be fixed?

Just asking.