Can some tell me who William Saletan is...

[imax2268]

I'm involved in another discussion and they keep quoting him...

Is there any websites out there as to who he is...his party affiliation...etc...etc...?

Thanks...

[BurtWorm]

1. slate.com columnist/editor in chief

typical "centrist" pundit. Bends over backwards to be "fair." Occasionally on the money, but too often way off in right field.

[RandomKoolzip]

2. Played Captain James T. Kirk on the first "Star Trek" series, later ADMIRA

L James T. Kirk. Has written several novels in the "Tek War" SciFi series. Starred in "TJ Hooker" in early eighties. Any more questions?

Oh, wait.....

[imax2268]

3. lol

[gottaB]

4. Saletan is a writer

A writer on politics. He is enamoured of his own skill with words and cleverness. He'd rather be incisive than insightful because negativity gets more immediate attention, and because it sounds vaguely cynical, like something a writer should strive for.

Saletan is capable of subtlety and abstraction, but does not display true depth. He avoids rigorous interrogations of the conditions that make his style of thinking possible. Consequently, his opinions often seem like little more than rationalizations for his own privileges--smart at times, attitudinous, but not getting to the heart of things. I say this knowing full well that Saletan has very specific ideas about political opinion. Those ideas fall far short of being critical, of threatening to undermine his status or his preferred mode of self-presentation.

Saletan has written for years "as if" from the left, in the role of the neoliberal hall monitor. You know, the kid who says to you "We're like friends, so don't make me tell...." At heart he's not a liberal. That's the primary reason his political leanings are hard to pin down. I'd presume he believes he's too sophisticated to label his own political ideas, but again, that goes to rationalization. It's pretty transparent.

[lanlady]

5. you've described Saletan perfectly

He does indeed seem under the spell of his name and words appearing for all the world to see on the Internet. While he may derive personal satisfaction from that, he tends to leave his readers unsatisfied.