The New York Times has reached such an extraordinary level of self-parody that a charitable observer might be excused for letting the paper’s growing imitations of posts on The Daily Kos slide, shrugging it off as a temporary losing streak, sort of like the Yankees of the late 1960s. However, Arthur Sulzberger Jr., Bill Keller and Gail Collins are prominent in American culture and as a moribund media still takes its cues from the Times, it remains useful to point out the paper’s most flagrant embarrassments.
Consider Deborah Solomon’s short interviews in each issue of the Times’ Sunday magazine. They’re usually innocuous, a page that could be considered as an advertisement for the Democratic Party, but her August 13 Q&A with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi was so puffy that it stood out. In addition to learning that the Californian is “addicted to chocolate,” Pelosi tells Solomon that if President Bush “produces Osama bin Laden the night before the [midterm] election,” the effect on the results would be nil, since the capture “is five years too late.” Even Howard Dean and Ned Lamont (coached by Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson) might disagree with that assessment.
Solomon either doesn’t do her homework or is simply oblivious to displaying her poor interview skills in print. She asks: “Exactly how many seats do the Democrats need to gain to take the majority in the House?” Even Pelosi must’ve raised her eyebrows at that question, since every newspaper and magazine in the country has repeatedly shown charts highlighting the magic number of 15. Pelosi, of course, is very optimistic, but does offer this keen insight: “[E]very day is a lifetime in politics.” Never heard that one before, even from “nonpartisan” analyst Charlie Cook.
I don’t mean to dwell on the obvious—bashing the Times has, thankfully, mushroomed into a cottage industry, with withering critiques from The American Thinker and Vanity Fair’s Michael Wolff—and because someone has to stick up for Alex Rodriguez, here’s just one more intellectual travesty before considering the upcoming Yanks-BoSox series. Not surprisingly, it comes courtesy of Paul Krugman, the economist who masquerades as a political expert on the Times’ op-ed page twice a week. His August 14 column was a dilly even by the low standards all but the most fervent Democratic sheep have come to expect.
You might remember that a few days before the 2004 presidential election, Krugman predicted a Kerry win, based not only on Bush’s presumed imbecility but also for the high voter participation that was expected. The turnout was a throwback to the days when more than half the country’s registered voters made it to the polls, but it was the GOP who had the better ground operation.
Krugman pats himself on the back in last Monday’s piece—par for the course—recalling that when he wrote two days after 9/11 the GOP was planning to exploit the terrorist attack “to push through tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy,” he received a torrent of angry responses from readers. (This was back in the days when Times columns were free online and columnists actually received feedback).
He goes on to say that last week’s news of the foiled plot to blow up U.S.-bound airplanes was similarly exploited by the Bush administration to scare citizens and vote Republican this November. The bulletin on August 10 from London was frightening, but does Krugman really believe the country would be better served if it was hushed up? In any case, he concludes: “All Mr. Bush and his party can do at this point is demonize their opposition. And my guess is that the public won’t go for it [even though, as Krugman implies, they were too stupid to reject Bush two years ago], that Americans are fed up with leadership that has nothing to hope for but fear itself.”
It’s mid-August and Krugman is already planning a November celebration, probably looking forward to an extra scoop of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream to mark the occasion.
What the hell, let’s wait until mid-October and see if Krugman gets one right, snapping a streak that rivals the current troubles of Jorge Posada.
Anyway, I’m not an A-Rod fan, but you’d think if NYC’s sportswriters were so fed up with the guy they wouldn’t meander over to his locker after every game for his analysis. If Derek Jeter, who ought to win this year’s American League MVP award, were a pal he’d counsel E-Fraud and tell the touchy-feely third baseman to lay low for the rest of the season and stop talking to the press since it only gets him into trouble. (Jeter could also do the Yanks a favor and let Rodriguez take over at shortstop, where he’s superior to Captain Intangible, but that’ll never happen.)
The Post’s Joel Sherman, along with the News’ Filip Bondy, were rough on the future Hall of Famer on Aug. 14, after the Yanks dropped a game to the Angels and phenom Jered Weaver. Sherman was pretty funny, saying that when the Yanks’ butt-boy booted a ball in the first inning, it was “graciously called a hit because, apparently, Scott Boras was the official scorer.” And Rodriquez did dig himself in deeper when he told Sherman and others that “My season starts now. In this town, it doesn’t matter what happened earlier. No one will remember.”
It’s difficult for me to defend A-Rod, especially since I’m a Sox fan who’s expecting the worst this weekend at Fenway, with a Yanks sweep ending Boston’s season, but is it Oprah’s male twin who’s responsible for the Bombers not leading the AL East by 12 games? The most rational comments about the needy ballplayer were succinctly expressed by “Lisa-Yankee Fan,” one of the “Subway Squawkers” who appears in the News at regular intervals.
Lisa admits she’s sweet on A-Rod and also concedes his defense has been sub-par this year, but wonders why, when the Yanks lose a game (which is too infrequent for my liking), he gets the blame. She writes: “But the scapegoating of him has reached idiotically epic proportions… Mariano blows a save? It’s A-Rod’s fault for not catching a foul ball, event though his hitting put the Yanks ahead in the first place. The whole team can’t seem to hit with runners in scoring position lately? Just blame A-Rod. Mike Mussina pitches poorly and four bad defensive plays are made in one inning? Only one that matters is A-Rod’s. Cory Lidle and Sidney Ponson pitch badly? A-Rod hit a stat-padding homer in the 8th, so that one is his fault, too.”
Just watch, A-Rod will hit a winning homer off Curt Schilling or Jonathan Papelbon this weekend and suddenly the press will treat him like Mickey Mantle.
