On almost every issue the commenters at Starbuck's are well to the left of the posters. Immigration is a tough one, but even then the comments are engaged, and on foreign policy it's a bloodbath. What strikes me most is the tone: surprisingly free of eccentricity, high-purpose or the anger of political junkies (two of which I'm full of) and sounding more and more like the impatience and frustration educated citizens in every other country feel regarding US policy. This makes the arrogance of the next generation of responsible beltway and intellectuals like Ackerman even more annoying. The pros at Tapped still have an attachment to America as the necessary country, as they have an attachment to themselves as the necessary intellectuals.

But it's so over.