Newsweek Editor Says Don't Be "Spinning Arrows" Weekly, But Newsweek Does

I know Mr. Baker has already noticed Newsweek editor Jon Meacham's orations on "Meet the Press," but Mr. Taranto pointed out a Meacham quote that I found especially bizarre. (No, I don't mean him saying John McCain's trying to be a "centrist Reaganist figure." Centrist Reaganist?) Late in the segment, Meacham said of Iraq: "I just think we're in the midst of a vast historical change there, obviously, and one of the things that people in our business have to be careful about is either on a daily or hourly or weekly cycle assigning blame or credit and spinning arrows."

Hell-ooooooo? Newsweek has a snarky weekly feature devoted to assigning blame and spinning arrows called "Conventional Wisdom Watch"? Is Meacham telling us that his Bush-bashing CW is going bye-bye, or is he just having a temporary, if comical, bout of amnesia?

Also: Media Matters squealed over Meacham joking Howard Dean was insane. And they say they're about citing "conservative disinformation"! (See the message boards underneath mocking that claim.)

Someone needs to look puzzled as Doris Kearns Goodwin hailed Pope John Paul: "He did have an effect on people feeling, because of him, that they wanted to dig into themselves even more and think about religion." Earth to Doris: they wanted to dig into themselves less, and think about Jesus.