On The DMZ, the topic of salad bar etiquette leads Bill and Matt to discuss David Brooks’s latest column. Does Brooks have a point about respecting authority, or is he just annoyed at sharing the media stage with bloggers? Do we even have real authority figures anymore? And are bloggers too sensitive about their status? Why isn’t America debating drones? Is the end of John King’s and Dylan Ratigan’s TV shows more evidence of the demise of cable news?
On Fireside Chats, Mark talks with Rich Yeselson, a veteran of the labor movement, about the Wisconsin recall election and the decline of organized labor. Do Americans hate unions, or are they just indifferent? Are we all just free-riders on the benefits unions obtained for us? Was it a mistake to go after Scott Walker? Have unions put too much faith in electoral politics? Why does the more affluent, liberal wing of the Democratic Party find itself at cross purposes with unions? Rich argues that while it’s great that liberals like Paul Krugman, Timothy Noah, and Mark finally appreciate unions, bloggers and academics are no substitute for a broad social movement.