Powerline: A Brief Retrospective

Hugh Hewitt has fallen all over himself to give Powerline a tongue bath on the occasion of its fifth anniversary, in language so damn purple it would make Barney blush:

I join with what should be --if justice and perspective replaced envy and bias-- a throng tens of thousands of other journalists in toasting the trio of bloggers best known as Time's first --and thus far only-- "Blog of the Year." Their anniversary is a very good moment to point out that Powerline's story is truly extraordinary in ways that will only be appreciated a few years down the road. John, Paul and George --er, Scott-- were not the first bloggers, any more than the Fab Four were the first rock and roll band, but even as the Beatles remade rock and roll after Elvis/Dylan and others got it rolling, Powerline followed Instapundit and a handful of other pioneers and changed blogging on their way to changing American journalism.

Etc. As InstaPutz readers know, Powerline's most prominent embarrassment is probably the Schiavo Memo, but there have been others (courtesy of TP and MM):

-- Three lawyers unfamiliar with the definition of indictment.

-- Not worthy of a guest spot by Bill O'Reilly.

-- Pwned by Dick Durbin.

-- A curious unfamiliarity with the definition of covert.

-- A laughable belief that the WaPo editorial page is liberal.

-- An almost-cute steadfast conviction -- well after 99.9% of the world knew otherwise -- that Saddam had WMDs.

-- Tom DeLay was "too liberal."

-- Fabricated audio of John Dingell.

-- Jamil Hussein.

-- "President Bush has articulated his policy vision more consistently and more eloquently than any President since Lincoln."

-- "My view is that if winning means having a country in which Iraqis don't kill one another in large numbers, then we're unlikely to win any time soon. However, if winning means having a country no portion of which is controlled by those who threaten us or are closely aligned with those who threaten us, and which avoids widespread chaos, then I believe "victory" is quite attainable."

-- There is "no evidence that the Republican Party has done anything to demonize homosexuality."

-- Happily smeared uncle of dead soldier.

-- An unsubstantiated claim that The New York Times, by reporting on the NSA program, "damaged our security."

-- The funny-looking Powerliner pretends not to know the names Lester Crawford, Brian Doyle, Claude Allen, David Safavian, Larry Franklin, Susan Ralston, Dusty Foggo, Janet Rehnquist, Ken Tomlinson, George Deutsch and Richard Perle.

-- "It appears to me that many, if not most, American reporters, editors and news executives want to make it impossible for America ever to fight a war."

-- "The American left has been guilty of many contemptible actions over the past twenty years, but few are so deeply offensive as its treatment of Jim Guckert..."

Naturally, the graf by which -- if there is a God -- Powerline will be remembered is this one:

You dumb shit, he didn't get access using a fake name, he used his real name. You lefties' concern for White House security is really touching, but you know what, you stupid asshole, I think the Secret Service has it covered. Go crawl back into your hole, you stupid left-wing shithead. And don't bother us anymore. You have to have an IQ over 50 to correspond with us. You don't qualify, you stupid shit.

Anyway, considering Powerline's utter lack of introspection, amusing inability to learn from mistakes, and a massive amount of evidence that they -- the Three Stooges of the blogosphere -- wouldn't recognize common sense if it punched them in the face, is it any wonder that their brethren, considered the wingersphere's best and brightest, are still routinely humiliated? (h/t Atrios)