Nurturing the festering

Howard Fineman appears to be reasonably intelligent and is good for political insight if you pull his chain -- and NBC does quite a bit of chain pulling when he's in the room. But the more I see him on the various talk shows and read his op-eds, the more I believe his function is to feed the discomfort level of enthusiasts.

Kill troop morale
A favorite tactic in any battle is to try to add to the discontent of the groundpounders on the other side. The purpose is, of course, is to weaken the position of the other side. But the battle's won, so what's Fineman trying to accomplish? To pour salt in wounds and watch them fester. To cause a reaction that will be heard around the world.

Being one of NBC's go-to guys for punditry is probably a pretty good way to get paying customers, but none of this advances political discourse. Fact-based analysis isn't supposed to inject emotion of itself, but to reflect the facts.

This adolescent tendency to want to be seen as the insider is sophomoric. Children like to say words that produce a "wow" from their audience. Makes them feel relevant, purposeful.

I wish Fineman and the rest of the beltway insiders would mature.