It turns out that when Eric Alterman isn't busy feuding with Ana Marie Cox over who's the bigger liberal, he's earning paychecks as media columnist for The Nation.

(Also, according to the bio on his website, Alterman is "a frequent lecturer and contributor to virtually every significant national publication in the US and many in Europe.")

But it's his piece in today's Nation (entitled "Potemkin Paper") that has us utterly transfixed.

It seems Mr. Alterman has had some trouble subscribing to The New York Sun. And, despite the fact that Alterman, a liberal (did we already mention that?) would doubtless only be using the conservative rag to line his hamster cage, he's nonetheless quite adamant about getting ahold of the paper on a daily basis.

And, apparently, a great guy to intern for!

I have twice received free Sun subscription offers, initially when the Sun began publication, in the spring of 2002, and more recently this past winter. Both times I signed up. In 2002 I got bupkes, though I called about it more than once. Between January 1 and Memorial Day, I not only hassled the circulation people myself; so did my intern, Mike, many times over five months. Over and over, the Sun's staffers insisted that I was getting the paper and just didn't know it. Eventually about eight copies showed up one morning addressed to different apartments in my building. That lasted a day.

Okay, so ostensibly, the underlying suggestion in Alterman's left-wing manifesto is that the NY Sun may have exaggerated its circulation numbers, but we're still stuck on the part where Intern Mike was forced to hassle the Sun staffers on a semi-regular basis over the past five months. All of which kinda makes us wonder:

(a) Who is Intern Mike?
(b) More importantly, could he beat our own Intern Joseph* in a round of fisticuffs?
(c) What were Intern Mike's responsibilities, if any, besides harassing the circulation staff at the New York Sun?
(d) Was this a paid position, or was the opportunity to work underneath nationally (and internationally!) renowned author, Eric Alterman, payment enough?

And last, but not least, how many different ways are there to say, "I thought I told you I take my coffee black! Now go call the NY Sun again, now—before I rescind that letter of credit I promised your second-tier university."

*Or, for that matter, Intern Wendy