The Good, The Bad, And The Very, Very Ugly
January 17, 2008 -- 10:09 AM EST // //
This blog has taken issue in the past with New York Times reporter Leslie Wayne's coverage of John Edwards, but it needs to be said that she turned in a very good piece today that used the word "false" or its variants a half-dozen times to describe all the lies that are floating around about the presidential candidates.
That's a very good development. And I think it shows that the big debate we all had over that Washington Post piece front-paging the Obama Muslim smears without declaring them false is having a palpable and salutary effect. At least, I'd like to think it shows that. But I'm pretty certain it does.
On the other hand, this Times piece -- which is about how phony and calculating Hillary and her advisers are -- is just bleedin' awful. It runs through all the personalities Hillary has tried to hoodwink the public with -- "Commander in Chief Hillary," "Strong and Experienced Hillary, "Teary-Eyed Hillary," and "I-Feel-Your-Pain Hillary" -- and suggests that Hillary and her advisers are "searching for the right personality" for her to connect with voters.
Of course, it's never explained why it is that these "personalities" are necessarily mutually exclusive or why a politician can't, you know, be a human being and present many faces to the public.
Yes, yes, I know, Hillary and her advisers really do discuss how to present her to the electorate. Nonetheless, this piece is plainly over the top and beyond ridiculous, and I challenge you to find a news section article in The Times that takes a tone like this with any other pol.
The piece then reaches this startling conclusion:
Her newest public face is a blend of policy and persona.Hard to top this one for sheer inanity. Is there any way anyone can be a politician without blending policy and persona?
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