Note

The edition is done except for two pieces we'd like to rework. It's posting late. Why? The piece everyone's e-mailing about (noted by Mike, Elaine and Kat). It's written. It wasn't hard to write, C.I. had done the bulk of it already (as they noted at their sites).

The way it works is some 'elders' are named including Tom Hayden, Medea Benjamin and Phyllis Bennis. There is a hilarious joke to Bennis (on Bennis?) in the piece currently.

Despite the fact that it's noted the piece only names people worth naming (we were kind and left unnamed the ones doing intentional harm), C.I.'s going back and forth over the joke and it's become a bigger issue than it actually is.

The rest of us love the joke. It is, however, C.I.'s and C.I. can pull it if that's the 'final answer.' But since we've spent two hours debating the pros and cons of it (pros: It's funny as hell and, in my -- Jim -- opinion, that's all that matters), Dona suggested we take a nap and sleep on it.

For those wondering, the joke appears in the context of Bennis' slam of Alexander Cockburn and I also argue that, after writing that piece, she should be willing to live with any jokes that come out of it. I made the mistake of noting the Medea Benjamin section as an example of how we're not worrying about humor there which only led to C.I. wondering, "Is that really hurtful? I thought it was funny and underscored one of the central points."

Dona thinks if we take a nap, we'll come back either rested with the attitude of "It was made into something by ___ so they should expect comments" or else we'll be in such a rush to edit the last two pieces that it will be a case of "Whatever! Just post it!" So that's what we're doing.