Wednesday, October 22, 2014
Mid-size poop
An evil creature has departed for Hades today. Party time in Roy Cohn's corporate HQ!
Ben Bradlee wasn't among the maximum evildoers, but his mid-sized evil had a broader effect than most.
Before Bradlee, newspapers competed on various sides of politics with clear labels. In most cities you could choose between left and right papers, or choose opposite sides of the local corrupt mayor. You knew what you were getting. After Bradlee, more than 100% of newspapers were more than 100% leftist, and more than 100% of them firmly claimed to be "non-partisan". Choice disappeared.
Part of the blame for this belongs to the non-leftist politicians who still fail to understand the situation. Nixon was the first to fail in this way. Despite his naturally suspicious temperament, he went ahead and used dirty tricks that LBJ and JFK had perfected. He assumed that he would get away with it because LBJ and JFK had gotten away with it.
Even now Repooflican politicians haven't figured it out. They continue to use the terminology of competing brands while doing exactly the same things as the other "side". This means that Repooflicans are nothing more than a convenient blame-carrier. When the D politicians do the same things and it leads to national collapse, the D pols and their captive newspapers can blame Rs for the failure.
You're doing the same thing. Just go ahead and wear the same label. Be "Democrats". This will eliminate the scapegoating. Journalists will not start telling the truth, of course, but they won't be able to play Bradlee's evil game any longer.
¶ 2:15 AM 
An evil creature has departed for Hades today. Party time in Roy Cohn's corporate HQ!
Ben Bradlee wasn't among the maximum evildoers, but his mid-sized evil had a broader effect than most.
Before Bradlee, newspapers competed on various sides of politics with clear labels. In most cities you could choose between left and right papers, or choose opposite sides of the local corrupt mayor. You knew what you were getting. After Bradlee, more than 100% of newspapers were more than 100% leftist, and more than 100% of them firmly claimed to be "non-partisan". Choice disappeared.
Part of the blame for this belongs to the non-leftist politicians who still fail to understand the situation. Nixon was the first to fail in this way. Despite his naturally suspicious temperament, he went ahead and used dirty tricks that LBJ and JFK had perfected. He assumed that he would get away with it because LBJ and JFK had gotten away with it.
Even now Repooflican politicians haven't figured it out. They continue to use the terminology of competing brands while doing exactly the same things as the other "side". This means that Repooflicans are nothing more than a convenient blame-carrier. When the D politicians do the same things and it leads to national collapse, the D pols and their captive newspapers can blame Rs for the failure.
You're doing the same thing. Just go ahead and wear the same label. Be "Democrats". This will eliminate the scapegoating. Journalists will not start telling the truth, of course, but they won't be able to play Bradlee's evil game any longer.
¶ 2:15 AM
