![]() RICH, LAZY AND DISHONEST! Does Rich ever know what hes talking about? Liberals should be concerned: // link // print // previous // next //
TUESDAY, MAY 4, 2010 History can be quite squalid: Weve posted the first half of Chapter 5 at our companion site, How he got there. Why have we posted just half the chapter? Therein lies a long, squalid tale. (To see chapter 5, just click here.) Chapter 5 deals with November 1999, which weve dubbed the month of Wolf. On October 31, 1999, Time magazine reported that Naomi Wolf was advising the Gore campaign, much as shed done for the Clinton campaign just four years before. But by now, the mainstream press corps was waging an ugly war against Candidate Gore. (Four days earlier, they had hissed and jeered Gore all through that first Democratic debate, as described by Jake Tapper, Eric Pooley and Howard Mortman. See chapter 4.) There followed an astonishing month, a month marked by the mainstream press corps moral and intellectual squalor. There are so many parts to this month of Wolf, the story simply cant be told at normal chapter length. We have now posted an account of the sexual trashing of Wolfand this account, all by itself, starts approaching normal chapter length. We havent yet discussed the more famous part of this squalid monththe press corps assault on Gores disturbing wardrobe, highlighted by the inane but iconic claim: Naomi Wolf told Al Gore to wear earth tones! (We havent yet discussed those other squalid claims, recited by pundits with true moral fervor: Al Gore hired a woman to teach him how to be a man! Al Gore doesnt know who he is!) Weve spent the last month immersed in the press corps sexual trashing of Wolf. Weve found their moral and intellectual squalor almost literally sickening. That said, we strongly recommend the material we have now posted. The better known tale, about Gores troubling clothes, is yet to come. (His suits! His boots! His polo shirts! The height at which he hemmed his pants! The number of buttons on his suit jackets! The way he wore casual clothes to some events, more formal attire to others! And those damnable earth tones!) The moral and intellectual squalor was simply staggering during this month. And by the wayall your favorites played along. Half your favorites hunted Wolf down. The other half kept their traps shut. George Bush ended up in the White House. Are you happy with how that turned out? Again, well ask for your financial support if you think this project is worthwhile. Dont worrythis sort of thing will happen again at some point if liberals continue to keep their traps shut tight about what they did during this era. A vast Code of Silence persists to this very day. Nothing to look at! Nothing happened! You might consider your contribution to be a medical contribution. The squalid material weve now posted would make any sane person ill. And of course, the squalor only gets worse as this chapter continues. Moral and intellectual squalor sent George W. Bush to the White House. Go aheadread it and weep. Most voters havent yet heard. (By the way: December 1999 was the month of Love Canal! Al Gore said he discovered Love Canal! It went from Ceci and Kits fever-dreams directly to your ears. But that is for Chapter 6.) RICH, LAZY AND DISHONEST (permalink): In this mornings New York Times, a new poll measures the publics views on the Arizona immigration law. Four percent of respondents said they had no opinion about the new law. But uh-oh! Of the 96 percent who did express a view, this is how things break down:
In short, only 36 percent of respondents expressed the liberal view when asked about this new law. Sixty percent said the law got things just about right or wasnt tough enough. Given the norms of American politics, this is a fairly predictable breakdown. This kind of breakdown is what people mean when they say, somewhat incoherently, that the United States is a center-right nation. (What make that construct a bit incoherent? Weve never understood how a nations electorate can be to the right, or to the left, of itself.) As is often the case on such matters, the liberal view about this new law is the minority view. In a rational world, this would present an obvious question: How can liberals persuade the public that the law really does go too far? Just a guess: It probably doesnt help to suggest that support for the law must stem from bigotry or racial animus. This is especially true if liberal advocates seem to disregard legitimate types of concern which are almost surely driving support for the law. Unfortunately, white liberals love to accuse other peoplespecifically, white conservatives and centristsof bigotry and racism. This instinct is especially noxious when one considers the lazy indifference white liberals have shown toward actual racial concerns in the past several decadestoward low-income schooling, for example. But lets put that to the side for now: In recent years, no one has played this liberal race card any more grandly than the New York Times Frank Rich. On Sunday, we thought Richs column displayed the kind of lazy, contemptuous work liberals should have rejected long ago. Its hard to believe that work like this doesnt hurt the liberal cause on matters like this new law. Ironically, Rich was on his best behavior when it came to matters of race. In his opening paragraph, he accused Arizona of hysteriaof succumbing to a political virus whose cure is unknown, of being on the dark side. (Presumably , this accusation would include Arizonas voters) But in what may be a new world record, he nobly waited until the third paragraph to start his overt racial talk:
Struggling like Strangelove to rein himself in, Rich heroically waits until his third paragraph to suggest that support for this new law dovetails with negative reaction to that (wink-wink) accelerating demographic shift. As he continues, he offers this thought, which inevitably seems to reflect on 60 percent of the nations voters:
We know, we know! Bowing to demands of THE HOWLER, Rich is trying to be more nuanced, a bit more fair, than he normally is. Magnanimously, he says that voters arent necessarily bigots if theyre angry about illegal immigration! But he never quite brings himself to make this concession about voters who support the new law. Nor does he ever explain who died and made him Godwho asked him to parade so grandly about, politely assuring the nations voters that they arent necessarily bigots. But then, Rich is a fatally pompous fellowand hes exceptionally dumb. Hes a man who spent the Clinton/Gore years swallowing whole, and then reciting, every pseudo-conservative line, helping send Bush to the White House. In the case of Gore, he kept it up right through 2006, loudly complaining to his pal Imus about how dumb and phony Gores high school film about climate change was. (And yes, this was after he saw it.) Within the context of recent American politics, its very hard to get dumber. But as dumb and gullible as Rich was back then, he may be more destructive nowand he remains just as lazy, and just as dishonest. Consider the lazy, contemptuous way he faked his way through Sundays column. Doers Rich ever know what hes talking about? Lets start with his less significant errorshis errors about the blowhard J. D. Hayworth, who is running for the Senate in Arizona against John McCain:
Does Rich ever know what hes talking about? On-line, he linked his claim that Hayworth is an unabashed birther to this blog posta post that is more than three months old (January 26). Has Rich been napping on Neptune since that time? In late February, Hayworth became highly abashed about Obamas place of birth. More specifically, he went on Americas highest-rated cable news program, where he explicitly said he believes Obama was born in Hawaii. How well-known was Hayworths statement? Good God! So well-known that even Chris Matthews managed to hear about it:
Duh! Hayworth said this more than two months ago, on Americas biggest cable new program. Rich still hasnt heard. (His editor aint too bright either.) Meanwhile, how about Richs claim that Hayworth frames the immigration debate as an opportunity to stand up for our culture, presumably against all immigrants, legal and illegal alike? In this case, Rich linked to this yellowing book review, from February 2006. But over and over, again and again, from its headline right on down, this four-year-old book review repeatedly notes that Hayworth was talking about illegal immigration in his book. But so what? In his standard corner-cutting way, Rich tossed us liberals some juicy red meatjust as he used to toss us meat about the evils of Clinton and Gore, about the way Candidates Bush and Gore couldnt be distinguished.
Rich likes to toss us red meat. He just isnt very honest about it, and wed have to guess that his perpetual dishonesty is still harmful to liberal causes, just as it was the 1990s and 2000, when he peddled his endless bullsh*t about the Clintons and Gore.
To help us see what a fake McCain is, Rich cited an odd-sounding statement about illegal immigrants intentionally causing accidents on the freeway. On-line, he linked us to this HuffPo post to let us enjoy a good solid laugh at McCains expense. He failed to link us to this HuffPo report from the very next day, a news report headlined John McCains Campaign Clears Up Controversial Illegal Immigrant Quote. In this report by Sam Stein, we learn what McCain was talking about when he made his slightly bungled statement. In fact, McCain had been referring to an actual public safety concern, as described by the Pinal County sheriff, Paul Babeu, in a press conference that very day. Going further, Stein reported what Babeu had said on MSNBC that same week:
Babeu had talked about certain illegal immigrants who were intentionally causing serious traffic hazards, and thereby causing wrecks. McCain got one word wrong in his slightly bungled account of what Babeu had said. In typical fashion, Rich played the minor misstatement for laughs. In the process, he made a joke of the safety concern which may seem quite real to Arizonans. Should anything that Paul Babeu said lead to support for Arizonas new law? That is a matter of judgment. But in this instance, Rich did what he constantly does: Having made up his mind about the new law, he simply fed you the type of pleasing tale which would tend to make you agree with his judgment. For many years, he did this sort of thing to Clinton and Gore, helping send Bush to the White House. (Al Gore said he inspired Love Story! Way back in 1997, Frank Rich played the starring role in inventing that destructive canard.) Now, he plays the same disingenuous games in support of the liberal view of Arizonas new law. For better or worse, 60 percent of American voters are inclined to think the new law makes sense. Presumably, many voters may feel that way because of the kinds of safety concerns Babeu and McCain discussed. Rather than address these concerns, Rich played us liberals for foolsagain. Do you really think this kind of thing leads to liberal political victories in this center-right nation? Rich is back in the liberal camp, having spent about a decade repeating crap about Clinton and Gore. In candor, liberals might be better off if he didnt argue the liberal side of these issues. This kind of lazy, dishonest work has always fueled the widespread idea that American liberals are limousine liberalscondescending dandies who cant be trusted, elitists who sneer at valid concerns. Because hes dishonest to his core, Rich will never stop fueling this perception. And then too, theres the deeply puzzling thing Michel Martin recently said.
Tomorrow: Martin and the Minutemen. Coming: Joan Walsh, Charles Blow.
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