The bloggers who attended briefings from a “senior Treasury Department official” last week have interpreted the concept of “deep background” in several different ways. I attended one of the briefings and initially didn’t plan to write about it at all. Others did write about it. One writer named the official, while others did not. (I still won’t.) Ezra Klein never discussed the meeting, but did address the “meta-discussion.” Felix Salmon and Derek Thompson named the attendees, but due to an email mixup there was no name tag for me – which is presumably why neither one mentioned my name, an omission that provided some undoubtedly much-needed ego deflation.
(But come on, guys! If somebody doesn’t mention me soon I’ll have to give my travel expenses back! Blue suit, gray hair, asked the follow-ups on Social Security and principal writedowns? Doesn’t ring a bell? Ezra, will you vouch for me?)
