Truthdig gossip

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I've made myself clear that I'm no avid Counterpunch fan these days, being generally disturbed by Jeffrey St Clair's taste in authors and what that means regarding where he's attempting to steer "the left." So I would have missed this tidbit if a friend had not emailed it to me from St Clair's Roaming Charges: You Go Back, Jack, Do It Again:
"+ Truthdig, one of the few progressive sites willing to call out the Russiagate hysteria, challenge the Democratic Party hierarchy and donor class and lift up the voices of the Palestinians in the face of Israeli war crimes, is imploding.
"The publisher, Zuade Kaufman, who has lent the site an estimated two or three million dollars, has had bitter clashes with the legendary Editor-in-Chief and the co-owner of the site, Robert Scheer, over the past few months.  Their disputes, staff members say, revolve around Kaufman’s desire to make the site more mainstream and commercially viable by catering to the Democratic Party establishment and adopting the dominant narratives about supposed Russian interference in the 2106 presidential election, as well as other stances embraced by mainstream outlets such as MSNBC.  The dispute between Scheer and Kaufman came to a head last week when Kaufman attempted to fire Scheer.  Scheer’s and Kaufman’s  lawyers are now in mediation.
"What seems certain is that the working relationship between Scheer and Kaufman is over.  The site will descend, without Scheer’s integrity, vision and courage, into another mediocre and banal handmaiden of corporate Democrats.  Several senior staff members and contributors, including Chris Hedges, the site’s most widely read columnist, Dwayne Booth, the cartoonist known as Mr. Fish, and the Executive Editor Kasia Anderson, among others, are expected to leave the site if Scheer is forced out."
Kaufman wants Truthdig to cater to the Democratic establishment even MORE? Oh dear. 
Anyway, I rarely read St Clairs' "Roaming Charges" articles and have to admit there's some interesting stuff in there, my favorite being Kurt Vonnegut's grades for his own novels:
+ How Kurt Vonnegut graded his own work in his essay “The Sexual Revolution” (collected in Palm Sunday).
Thanks, Ort!
EH


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