Like a stereotypical fraternity, the online media world grant full membership to a pledge only after some traditional abuse. (The Atlantic Wire had its own share of gentle ribbing from Mediaite upon launch). Conservative Tucker Carlson's new site The Daily Caller is being treated to a double-dose of the standard hazing. Less than in-love with the new "conservative answer to The Huffington Post," bloggers of a variety of stripes are proving a tough crowd:

• 'Pile of Dated, Uninspired Mush' If a little harassment means welcome in blogging language, then Kevin K. at Rumproast is giving the new site a warm welcome. "First of all, the design of the site is absolutely dreadful. It's so very awful that it actually made me mad when I first saw it ... I was going to write 'wake up and smell the decade,' but I didn't want people to think I meant the 00's because I'm referring to the nineties." Nor does he stop there, moving on to content: "Breitbart and Huffington? Really? That's what you roll out of the starting gate with? Why not just make your tagline 'More of the Same Old Shit'?"

• As Huffington Post Alternative, Not So Bad, implies Gawker's Alex Pareene "Welcome to the internet, Tucker! (And, you know, HuffPo is leading with a link to a Politico story, right now, and their second-most popular post is 'Man With World's Largest Penis, Unemployed In New York,' so maybe we shouldn't be so critical!)"

• Lackluster Ann Althouse is unimpressed by the lede story of "an unknown black man posing with 3 breast-wielders." Like Kevin K., she is likewise disdainful of the design, calling it "old-fashioned and tabloid," and saying the Jim Treacher blog logo "makes the Pajamas Media bathrobe look chic."

• Place Your Bets "It's pretty terrible," writes TS at Instaputz, "and does not refute my thesis that wingnuts can't/won't do reporting ... With a paid staff of 21," he adds, "I give this thing a year."
  

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Heather Horn