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Frank Rich, the NY Slime and the left in general are lousey at losing. Ha! |
2004-12-04 |
The Nascar Nightly News: Anchorman Get Your Gun IF Democrats want to run around like fools trying to persuade voters in red America that they are kissing cousins to Billy Graham, Minnie Pearl and Li'l Abner, that's their problem. Pandering, after all, is what politicians do, especially politicians as desperate as the Democrats. But when TV news organizations start repositioning themselves to pander to Nascar dads and "moral values" voters, it's a problem for everyone. |
Posted by:RJB in JC MO |
#11 Peggy Noonan nailed it in her latest WSJ piece on Rather-- he used to be her boss, in 1981-1984, and she's actually somewhat sympathetic to him. In her view what Brian Whatshisname and Peter Al-Jennings are doing is repeating the mistake that young Dan Rather, a Jacksonian son of the South if ever there was one, made forty years ago. Instead of trusting his Jacksonian instincts and superb nose for news, young Danbo was so eager to cast off the redneck taint and gain acceptance in Manhattan media circles that he adopted their cloistered point of view, whole cloth. Had he been content to be a rather sensationalist muckraking man of the people, Rather could well have become a truly independent, interesting, unpredictable reporter-- ie what every reporter is supposed to be. As opposed to being a shill for Proper Manhattan-Beltway Opinion. |
Posted by: lex 2004-12-04 10:25:47 PM |
#10 Here's a contrarian view: Frank Rich is pretty idiotic on most subjects but he does know media, and he's dead-on in his larger point, which is that the MSM's born-again posture is complete horsesh*t. No more convincing or serious than Kerry boasting about how he shot a goose (or did he?). I think Rich would respect these blow-dried idiots more-- I know I certainly would-- if they would simply do as NPR does and tacitly say, "Hey, we're going to give you a liberal slant because that's who we are and what we're about, and if you don't like it, flip the dial over to Fox or Rush." The corollary of this kind of brutal honesty is a certain humility: instead of saying, "We're the Almighty MSM that tells you how to think, that brings down presidents and turns military victory into ignominious defeat", the little man behind the curtain recognizes that he competes with Tom Wretchard and VDH and LGF and Kos and the rest of us. If he does a bang-up job, then he'll win the respect of red-state AMerica, and probably blue-state America as well. If he continues to serve us superficial slop with heavy dollops of NYTimes left-lib groupthink, then he'll join the ranks of the Air America nobodies. Sounds like how a marketplace for ideas should work, doesn't it? Good for Frank Rich. Bring it on, and may the man with the best ideas and the best reporting and the sharpest commentary win. |
Posted by: lex 2004-12-04 10:19:05 PM |
#9 Just like the high school gossips, these hateful bullies will self-destruct. But they will poison many an apple before they go. |
Posted by: 2b 2004-12-04 10:03:50 PM |
#8 listening to the Left I am reminded of General Burgoyne after the Battle of Saratoga. He couldn't believe that his beautiful army (which was going to cleave the Colonies and end the Rebellion) had been beaten by "a rabble in arms". I remain a proud member of The Rabble! |
Posted by: Justrand 2004-12-04 12:47:06 PM |
#7 2b, I am counting on it! One of the secondary benefits of Wâs victory is watching weasels like Rich corkscrew themselves into the ground with righteous (lefteous?) indignation not merely that they could have backed the wrong horse, but that there are people (peasants!) in fly-over land that (quelle horreur!) might not recognize their obvious mental and moral superiority. â¦most Americans continue to tell pollsters that the nation is on the wrong track⦠Really, Frank? Which polls are those? What were the relevant questions? And who exactly performed these polls â maybe the geniuses that did so well at the poll exits on election day? â¦the networks were often cautious about challenging government propaganda even before the election⦠They were too busy concocting their own, Frank, and doing a damn poor job of it too. Kevin Sites, the freelance TV cameraman who caught a marine shooting an apparently unarmed Iraqi prisoner in a mosque ⦠avoided any snap judgment pending the Marinesâ own investigation of the shooting, cautioning that a war zone is "rife with uncertainty and confusion." By calling the Iraqi âan apparently unarmedâ¦prisoner in a mosqueâ you do manage to sneak in your own snap judgement rather nicely. From what Iâve seen of that film, there was nothing apparent about whether the Iraqi was unarmed, whether he had surrendered already, or whether he intended to surrender. Thatâs it Frank. Keep it up. Iâm sure youâll have no problem maintaining this insufferably arrogant screed until at least the next election. Dismissively describe the supporters of the President as âNASCAR fans,â not just now, in the aftermath of the election, but at every opportunity that feces-flected rag of a newspaper gives you. Being treated with utter contempt and preening condescension by the likes of you is so very persuasive. As of right now, I figure the 2006 mid-term election is Wâs to lose. |
Posted by: Darth VAda 2004-12-04 12:08:10 PM |
#6 In the past, they ignored the average American and set their sights on the Christian right. We all see how effectively they villified them. They will now proceed to do the same to the "Average American". Expect to become ashamed that your family fights over a remote and shops at KMart or WalMart. Do you take weenie dishes to pot-lucks? Expect that dish to be viewed as white-trash, instead of tasty. And soon, at local pot lucks, it will disappear as no one wants to be scoffed at. Don't think they can do it? Think again. Look how the jet-set, living in 6,000 square foot mansions made the average joe feel ashamed and guilty about driving an SUV. It's a shame. They can and will do it. They will begin to spew their most vicious venom before they exit, poisoning anything and everything they touch. The ordinary American is now their target, and they will poison the very waters we drink. Count on it. |
Posted by: 2b 2004-12-04 11:32:37 AM |
#5 Don't listen to Richard, he's been running on the high side way too long! Crazy! Nutz! Damn it, give me back my crayon. Damn! The place is full of screeching NASCAR newbies, make 'em stop! Where's Bobby I? Bud Moore? Help! |
Posted by: Leroy Yarborough 2004-12-04 11:04:31 AM |
#4 I'ma here a waiting until you see that I am you're rightful Leige Lord and return the Mighty Hemi into it's rightful place. Meanwhile have Goodies. |
Posted by: Richard I 2004-12-04 11:01:37 AM |
#3 as a pundit on world news, politics, and foreign policy, Mr. Rich is an excellent former theater critic. Peter Principle writ large |
Posted by: Frank G 2004-12-04 9:33:57 AM |
#2 Oh, just in case some of you have yet to hear of P.E.S.T. it stands for "post election selection trauma". :D |
Posted by: RJB in JC MO 2004-12-04 9:18:14 AM |
#1 This dude needs to travel to Florida for some P.E.S.T. treatment. Mwaahahaha! |
Posted by: RJB in JC MO 2004-12-04 9:16:22 AM |