In fact, the democratic - some might even say proletarian - theme was evident throughout the ball at the World Trade Center: standard tickets were an affordable $40, the guests - about 7,000 of them - had to pass through a metal detector, and there were long lines for the cash bars that were shut down during official speeches. Guests swarmed the tables of hummus and pita, which were ravenously consumed and promptly cleared for good. Because of a shortage of seats - and pita bread - one woman ate her small lump of hummus with a fork, standing up.
Many of those overheard complaining about their growling stomachs declined to discuss it on the record; this was a partisan crowd, after all.
''Would you come to something like this to eat?'' asked Republican National Committeeman Ron Kaufman, wearing a tuxedo and cowboy boots. ''You come to be seen and to talk.''
This inaugural gala, however, was a two-party system.
An escalator ride to the discreet, exclusive Martini Lounge brought a striking change of scenery. Well-heeled guests who ponied up $1,000 or more took in a stunning view of the Boston skyline to the right, and to the left, a plate-glass window allowed them to gaze down on the hoi polloi crammed on the World Trade Center floor. Video and audio from the ground-level stage were piped in to a television monitor in the corner.
Tables were adorned with white-rose centerpieces and flickering votives; seating was plentiful, as was the spread of Middle Eastern hors d'oeuvres. Vodka flowed down the trunk of an elephant-shaped ice sculpture.
Jeanne Kangas, a Republican State Committee member, was impressed.
''It's very creative,'' she said, calling for a refill of her martini. ''This thinking outside the box, it's very similar to what Romney wants to do'' as governor.
Saturday, January 04, 2003
Upstairs, Downstairs
HORSEHORSEHORSEHORSE!
(hey, where'd my link go...:( ..hey it's back again!)
Oh man, whore of the year is tough. I thought Margaret Carlson would be a shoo-in.
(hey, where'd my link go...:( ..hey it's back again!)
Oh man, whore of the year is tough. I thought Margaret Carlson would be a shoo-in.
The word gay has been hijacked!!! By gay people...er homosexuals!!!
Those bastards!
But I thought the media was liberal on cultural issues! Howie keeps telling me so!
Don Farmer is a retired ABC News political and foreign correspondent and a former CNN news anchor. He can be reached via e-mail at marcodon@aol.com.
UPDATE: Inspired by Jesse, I sent Mr. Farmer an email:
Dear Mr. Farmer,
I remember having a similar experience as your grandson when I was a child. I was reading a book by J.R.R. Tolkien (The Hobbit, I believe) and was quite disturbed by a particular passage which described how the characters were gleefully "throwing faggots on the fire." I must have been about 9 or maybe 10, but this behavior was quite disturbing to me. It seemed bizarre to me that these otherwise noble and likeable characters would do that to people simply because they were gay, I mean homosexual.
Opening up my dictionary I'm quite shocked to discover that many many words have multiple meanings. Some meanings are apparently "archaic," which I think means that have fallen out of common usage, and some have preferred, secondary, and even tertiary meanings. Some word meanings differ by region within the U.S., and there are even words that mean one thing in the U.S. and something entirely different in the U.K. It's quite fascinating how flexible the English language is, and how quickly it evolves. As a person with a distinguished career in media - including a stint as a foreign correspondent - I'm surprised that this might be new to you. But, I suppose it's nice that there are still new things to learn.
In any case, my mother was also concerned that a word had been 'hijacked' - but her concern was that it had been hijacked by bigots and used as slur. She also wanted to shield me from its bad association and usage - which wasn't with homosexuality per se, but with people who think that it is "bad."
Perhaps the word 'faggot' could be the subject of your next column.
Best regards,
Atrios
Those bastards!
But I thought the media was liberal on cultural issues! Howie keeps telling me so!
Don Farmer is a retired ABC News political and foreign correspondent and a former CNN news anchor. He can be reached via e-mail at marcodon@aol.com.
UPDATE: Inspired by Jesse, I sent Mr. Farmer an email:
Dear Mr. Farmer,
I remember having a similar experience as your grandson when I was a child. I was reading a book by J.R.R. Tolkien (The Hobbit, I believe) and was quite disturbed by a particular passage which described how the characters were gleefully "throwing faggots on the fire." I must have been about 9 or maybe 10, but this behavior was quite disturbing to me. It seemed bizarre to me that these otherwise noble and likeable characters would do that to people simply because they were gay, I mean homosexual.
Opening up my dictionary I'm quite shocked to discover that many many words have multiple meanings. Some meanings are apparently "archaic," which I think means that have fallen out of common usage, and some have preferred, secondary, and even tertiary meanings. Some word meanings differ by region within the U.S., and there are even words that mean one thing in the U.S. and something entirely different in the U.K. It's quite fascinating how flexible the English language is, and how quickly it evolves. As a person with a distinguished career in media - including a stint as a foreign correspondent - I'm surprised that this might be new to you. But, I suppose it's nice that there are still new things to learn.
In any case, my mother was also concerned that a word had been 'hijacked' - but her concern was that it had been hijacked by bigots and used as slur. She also wanted to shield me from its bad association and usage - which wasn't with homosexuality per se, but with people who think that it is "bad."
Perhaps the word 'faggot' could be the subject of your next column.
Best regards,
Atrios
The Washington Times, owned by the Reverend Sun Myung Moon who has declared that America is "Satan's Harvest", and which employees as a writer and Assistant National Editor Robert Stacy McCain , a neo-confederate secessionist racist member of the League of the South, has declared the New York Times the Knave of the Year.
I can think of no higher honor.
I can think of no higher honor.
Jeebus.
The case of the five vanishing suspects
UPDATE: Slacktivist has more. And scroll down for some good Kaus bashing, too.
-
By the middle of this week, they had starred in hundreds of newspaper and television reports and had been on the lips of everyone from U.S. President George W. Bush to Senator Hilary Clinton, who announced at a press conference that they had entered the United States through Canada.
But yesterday, the FBI admitted that the most important ingredient in the story -- that is, the proof -- is nowhere to be found: "There is no border-crossing information that would say they're here," FBI spokesman Ed Cogswell said. "And to say they came in from Canada is pure speculation."
...
"We don't know if they ever entered the U.S.," Mr. Cogswell said. "And in fact we've never linked these guys to terrorists. Most of what we have here is an unknown, and even with these individuals we don't know if they are true names with those photographs."
"We're chasing rumours," a senior RCMP officer said. "We don't know if these five men were ever in Canada and we certainly have no proof whatsoever that they crossed into the United States either legally or illegally."
Asked what might have triggered the initial FBI allegation about the five Middle Eastern men entering the U.S. from Canada, the Mountie replied caustically: "It was a slow week at the White House. They needed something to stir the pot because nothing was happening in Iraq."
UPDATE: Slacktivist has more. And scroll down for some good Kaus bashing, too.
Remember this? Wonder whatever happened to it..
Wonder why they could've expected the media to fuel the thing bigtime. Al Gore couldn't even fuel the notion that they should recount a few votes in Florida,* and he did win the goddamn popular vote.
*Don't bother to tell me they were counted and recounted and recounted again because 18 counties in Florida never recounted them once during the statewide legally mandated automatic machine recount. You wouldn't want to look like a fool or a liar like James Baker now would you?
(thanks for the reminder Thumb)
-
Bush Set to Fight An Electoral College Loss
By Michael Kramer,
New York Daily News November 1, 2000
Quietly, some of George W. Bush's advisers are preparing for the ultimate "what if" scenario: What happens if Bush wins the popular vote for President, but loses the White House because Al Gore's won the majority of electoral votes?
...
[W]hat if Gore wins such crucial battleground states as Florida, Michigan and Pennsylvania and thus captures the magic 270 electoral votes while Bush wins the overall nationwide popular vote?
"The one thing we don't do is roll over," says a Bush aide. "We fight." How? The core of the emerging Bush strategy assumes a popular uprising, stoked by the Bushies themselves, of course.
In league with the campaign - which is preparing talking points about the Electoral College's essential unfairness - a massive talk-radio operation would be encouraged. "We'd have ads, too," says a Bush aide, "and I think you can count on the media to fuel the thing big-time. Even papers that supported Gore might turn against him because the will of the people will have been thwarted."
Local business leaders will be urged to lobby their customers, the clergy will be asked to speak up for the popular will and Team Bush will enlist as many Democrats as possible to scream as loud as they can. "You think 'Democrats for Democracy' would be a catchy term for them?" asks a Bush adviser.
Wonder why they could've expected the media to fuel the thing bigtime. Al Gore couldn't even fuel the notion that they should recount a few votes in Florida,* and he did win the goddamn popular vote.
*Don't bother to tell me they were counted and recounted and recounted again because 18 counties in Florida never recounted them once during the statewide legally mandated automatic machine recount. You wouldn't want to look like a fool or a liar like James Baker now would you?
(thanks for the reminder Thumb)
CNN gossip...
-
CNN's ratings are in the toilet, but the cable network's on-air talents are looking a lot chirpier these days. According to ticked-off insiders, Teya Ryan - boss Walter Isaacson's number two - has handed down an edict in hope of regaining some ground against front-running Fox News Channel. "She let it be known to all on-air personalities in no uncertain terms that they are to be happy. Everyone has to be happy and chirpy all the time - that's what she thinks viewers want," our mole groused. "Kyra Phillips was on the other day and mentioned the doctors killed in Yemen and she looked like she was saying 'Happy New Year!' " No wonder on-air talents like Garrick Utley, Brooks Jackson, James Hattori, Allan Dodds Frank and Mark Potter were not so broken up when they were handed pink slips yesterday. CNN viewership fell 8 percent to 898,000 while Fox had a 34 percent spike to 1.2 million under the leadership of Roger Ailes. A CNN rep said: "It's completely absurd. Teya has never instructed an anchor to be happy. CNN's journalists always strike the appropriate tone.
The stupider that network gets the lower their ratings go. Hasn't anyone noticed that? Could it have anything to do with this?
-
Roll Call August 6, 2001
Copyright 2001 Roll Call, Inc.
Roll Call
August 6, 2001
LENGTH: 875 words
HEADLINE: CNN Chief Courts GOP
BYLINE: By John Bresnahan and Mark Preston
BODY:
In an effort to improve his network's image with conservative leaders, new CNNchief Walter Isaacson huddled with House and Senate GOP leaders last week to seek advice on how to attract more right-leaning viewers to the sagging network.
Isaacson met with Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.), House GOP Conference Chairman J.C. Watts (Okla.), Rep. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) to talk about CNN's image with conservatives and how it can be improved.
Isaacson confirmed that he also reached out to senior White House officials, but he denied that he was seeking counsel on how to boost CNN's ratings with conservative viewers.
Interesting profile of J.C. Watts. He's starting to spill the beans a bit more.
-
When the controversy first broke, Watts fixated on the way Lott was being savaged by liberals and the media. And he identified with him because of it. As the furor has worn on, however, Watts finds himself offended not only by the details of Lott's segregationist-coddling past but also by the posturing of the senator's conservative critics. They are worried, they say, about the impact of Lott's comments on the party's outreach toward African Americans.
What outreach? Watts wonders. For a long time, he says, he has been the only congressional Republican actually doing outreach instead of just talking about it. Outreach? Where have you been for the past eight years? Watts wonders.
Once again, his long-simmering resentment of liberal exploitation of racial issues for political gain is at war with his frustration at his party's tone-deafness and lip service about inclusion. Watts is trying to straddle a fault line that Lott has turned into a chasm.
Saturday Book Recommendations
Sleepwalking Through History by Haynes Johnson. The often ignored history of the Reagan years. It's a shame this guy forgets everything he knows when he goes on the Newshour to be a historian Bobblehead.
The Fifties by David Halberstam. The notion that it was the Fifties that was the real time of social upheaval and not the Sixties is perhaps not so novel, but in a series of short unlinked chapters on a variety of subjects - from the civil rights movement to McDonalds to Levittown to television and youth culture, Halberstam makes clear why and how it really was the pivotal decade.
The Fifties by David Halberstam. The notion that it was the Fifties that was the real time of social upheaval and not the Sixties is perhaps not so novel, but in a series of short unlinked chapters on a variety of subjects - from the civil rights movement to McDonalds to Levittown to television and youth culture, Halberstam makes clear why and how it really was the pivotal decade.
Friday, January 03, 2003
Reader BB writes in:
I heard on "Marketplace" on the drive home the director of "The Crooked E," the television-movie made from Brian Kruger's (sp) book on his experiences at Enron, to be shown this Sunday night on CBS (I think). The woman said that the original screen date was November 3, or the Sunday prior to election day. But for reasons of which she had no explanation, she and the producer were told two weeks before the election that the movie would be rescheduled, which disappointed the producer, who hoped that the movie would give voters pause.
Damned liberal media.
I heard on "Marketplace" on the drive home the director of "The Crooked E," the television-movie made from Brian Kruger's (sp) book on his experiences at Enron, to be shown this Sunday night on CBS (I think). The woman said that the original screen date was November 3, or the Sunday prior to election day. But for reasons of which she had no explanation, she and the producer were told two weeks before the election that the movie would be rescheduled, which disappointed the producer, who hoped that the movie would give voters pause.
Damned liberal media.
Edwards proposes to end university legacy admissions.
Haha.
UPDATE: Digby fills this story out correctly.
Haha.
UPDATE: Digby fills this story out correctly.
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