We'd normally just tack this on as an update, but we feel the following clarification merits its own post (before too many more of you email us). Earlier, we posted an email from Eric Alterman in which he announced his need for a new assistant. Among Alterman's prerequisites for employment:

It's a tough time to be an aspiring public intellectual. You've got the master's, you've got the recognized byline, and you discover those things qualify you for what exactly? To be lefty pundit Eric Alterman's researcher/secretary. According to an email forwarded to us last night:

A unidentified friend on commentator and author Eric Alterman: "He is the worst name-dropper in the world-because he only uses first names. He'll say, 'Oh, I had dinner with Paul [Newman] and Joanne last night...' He is a huge literary starfucker."
The avenging Alterman [Observer]