Some history on the new CNBC blog covering Wall Street

A long time ago, like some time late in the 20th century, I was lucky enough to intern at a D.C. think tank with about 20 or so other aspiring journalists. I knew the National Journalism Center leaned right before applying, but not until I got there did I realize it was more of a horizontal plane than a lean. Conservative barely begins to describe the Center’s political slant. Ann Coulter is probably the most famous alum. One of my fellow interns was Mike Carney. Great guy. Liked beer, cigarettes, and debate as much as me, so we got along great. He even scored me a ticket to that Tibetan Freedom Festival at RFK where a girl got struck by lightning. Good times. Well, maybe not for her so much. Anyway, Mike spoke very highly of his brothers. Talked of how the four of them liked to wear matching outfits while singing Christmas carols at family gatherings and such. He also talked about how they were going to be heavy hitters in political journalism for years to come. I wrote much of it off as bluster, but damn if he wasn’t prophetic. Brian is a member of the editorial board of The Wall Street Journal. Tim interned at the NJC the summer after Mike and me, stayed on for a few years as a reporter, and is now senior political columnist at the Washington Examiner. Tim also has written a few books, including “The Big Ripoff: How Big Business and Big Government Steal Your Money” and “Obamanomics, How Barack Obama is Bankrupting You and Enriching his Wall Street Friends, Corporate Lobbyists, and Union Bosses,” which includes a foreword from Ron Paul. Mike is working with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board in Washington. And earlier this year John joined CNBC as senior editor and is in process of rolling out a new blog called NetNet that “will cover the lowdown and high-jinx of Wall Street and the culture of finance.” The beta version of the site is up now with the official launch set for Monday. Check it out. I love it. Snarky, witty and timely. Just want you want from a blog. Kudos, Carneys. Mike knew it all along. Write to Jason Philyaw.