Booman Tribune

Deep Thought (Gail Collins ed.)

by Steven D
Fri Mar 27th, 2009 at 09:09:18 AM EST

I'm always amazed (not) when New York Times columnists, like Gail Collins, and other members of the infamous liberal media elites are able to discern that the national zeitgeist is identical to the latest Republican talking points.

In summary, there appear to be only two constants in our ever-changing world. One is that Barack Obama is going to be on television every day forever. No venue is too strange. Soon, he’ll be on “Dancing With the Stars” (“And now, doing the Health Care, Energy and Education tango ...”) or delivering the weather report. (“Here we see a wave of systemic change, moving across the nation ...”)

Hey Gail, you can have your Georgie "Boy Wonder" Bush and Dick "I only talk to Brit Hume, Rush Limbaugh and Tim Russert because I know they will they faithfully regurgitate whatever lies I tell them as God's own truth" Cheney back any time. I bet you liked it so was so much better when we had a President that only talked to hand picked audiences of cult worshipers and right wing radio talk show hosts. Where National Security Advisers warned us about the looming danger of nonexistent mushroom clouds. Where the number of presidential press conferences held were the fewest in modern history, but you still rolled over begging The Phony Cowboy from Crawford to rub your bellies like little puppies.

Got to give it up to Gail though. A woman so compassionate, with so much empathy for the downtrodden masses (by which I mean National Republicans), that she willingly does pro bono work for them. But then again, you've been doing that even before they fell on hard times, haven't you? Or maybe you are simply so brain dead it's easier to marginally justify your position on the NYT Op-Ed page by mindlessly repeating what other people say, no matter how inaccurate it might be.

At least with Bill Kristol you knew he was a complete raving ideologue who would say anything in defense of his agenda. But you, Gail, you're supposed to be the female columnist at the Times who actually has something intelligent to say, the anti-Dowd, as it were. So when you lazily (or otherwise) drop in little bits of Republican truthiness into your columns it makes me wonder if you ever really deserved the esteem and sterling reputation to which some people seem to believe you are entitled. Because a liberal who uses conservative spin to bash a Democratic president without even acknowledging her sources is either stupid, ignorant or simply a poseur, someone pretending to be an honest public intellectual who uses her platform at the Times as an agent provocateur against the very ideals she supposedly espouses. Or maybe your just a comedian like Rush Limbaugh, one with a bigger vocabulary and a plummier accent. Take your pick. Personally, I'm not sure which of those options is worse.



Display:
I think this is TOTALLY out of line.  Collins is simply not bashing Obama here.  That entire column was tongue-in-cheek, as she often is.  And most of the column was directed at other parties entirely.  

Nor do I believe her comments here - or in the other columns - amount to echoing the GOP talking points.

I don't know what else I can add, except to emphasize that I think you have unfairly misinterpreted her.

by gideon on Fri Mar 27th, 2009 at 09:22:12 AM EST
Even if she's doing snark, it's pretty thin fare.  You'd think she might have something more substantial to comment on.  The problem with these wannabees is that they don't have anything to say, but for the time that Clinton was being assailed for his sexual peccadillos and Bush was providing a standard of discourse so unintelligible, there was always something someone who has nothing to say was able to write and get away with.  That's what the problem is.  Obama is robbing them of their bread and butter.

Knut
by Knut Wicksell (b_didnn@hotmail.ca) on Fri Mar 27th, 2009 at 09:41:40 AM EST
If Gail Collins is unacceptable as a target, perhaps Ruben Navarette would be.

The Village is the Village.

More at Zandar vs. The Stupid.

by Zandar1 on Fri Mar 27th, 2009 at 09:48:34 AM EST


Declaring the bottom is the only way back up..
by anarchronarchist (mincers (-at-) hotmail (-dot-) com) on Fri Mar 27th, 2009 at 10:05:11 AM EST
by rootless2 (sansracine_at_yahoo_dot_fr) on Fri Mar 27th, 2009 at 10:05:25 AM EST
In the end, it's ALL about propaganda with the mainstream media.

Equation: MSM is owned/operated by the wealthy class (doesn't GE own ABC?), anything published or broadcast must pass thru the pro-corporate filter. if it's remotely negative about corporations, it won't get published/broadcast. GE makes/sells weapons components; you think they are going to ALLOW criticism of the Iraq quagmire on ABC?

but this is all academic now-- we don't NEED msm to tell us the truth, and that's one reason why mainstream newspapers are failing. the content is useless, filtered, with maximum advertising to wade thru/recycle.

the "best" example of the NY Times as propaganda tool (this time on behalf of bu$hco and the warmongers) was judith miller being fed bogus info by cheney during the run-up to the Iraq invasion... she published the bullcrap.. the next day cheney publicly refers to "the story in the NY Times".. implying it has credibility.

"Don't complain about the media, become the media!"

Jello Biafra

by Superpole on Fri Mar 27th, 2009 at 10:14:38 AM EST
I think Disney owns ABC.  And GE owns NBC.
by arcadesproject on Fri Mar 27th, 2009 at 05:45:43 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Obama knows that he has to bypass the media to get his message to the public. Press conferences, town halls and, yes, Letterman and Leno insure that people hear what he actually says instead of hearing only interpretations and distortions. The whole "overexposure" complaint comes from the Villagers realizing that he's making them irrelivant.
by sjct on Fri Mar 27th, 2009 at 10:37:15 AM EST
excuse me Steven but, huh? Gail Collins is pure snark (also her column you linked to) from way back.

Viva Obama
by Errol on Fri Mar 27th, 2009 at 10:53:13 AM EST
You have to admit, the part you quoted is hilarious. I laughed out loud. It's bullshit of course, but what you quoted is FUNNY bullshit.
by MNPundit on Fri Mar 27th, 2009 at 11:30:05 AM EST
Does Gail want to explain to us why the bloody president of the bloody USA should not be on the bloody telly?  Bloody regular like?
by arcadesproject on Fri Mar 27th, 2009 at 05:43:41 PM EST


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