The Oracle of HuffPo

Wednesday, June 25, 2008 | 1:14 PM

The ancient Greeks gave us democracy and the modern greeks have given us Arianna.
Athens born Arianna Huffington (neé Stassinopoulos) arrived in the US via England and submersed herself in American political culture with the gusto of a Founding Father. Settling in California, she jumped into the public dialogue, writing a number of outspoken articles and books. She dated her governor, Jerry Brown, married Republican congressman Michael Huffington and became a spokesperson for the conservative movement then transitioned back into a progressive liberal and ran for governor herself. Huffington's strange brew of policy knowledge, fanatical partisanship and coquettish wit have made her a favorite on the cable news and comedy circuits and her eponymous blogsite has come to dominate the liberal wing of new media. Huffington was one of the keynote speakers at the Personal Democracy Forum and I daresay the biggest draw for this growing yearly event. Technocrats (computer geeks) closed their laptop screens (an unusual occurrence) and sat before her, rapt with anticipation of the brazen proclamations and biting one-liners to come. She did not disappoint- scolding old media for selling out in pursuit of access and promoting false neutrality, restating her pronouncement that "Bob Woodward is the dumb blonde of American Journalism" and asserting her righteousness on the issues by comparing a favorable report on Iraq to telling someone: "You have a brain tumor, but your acne has cleared." Hailing the "obsessive compulsive disorder" of new media, Huffington insists that it is truth, not partisanship that guides her work.