or Powell's or me• • •
"Mike and Jon, Jon and Mike—I've known them both for years, and, clearly, one of them is very funny. As for the other: truly one of the great hangers-on of our time."—Steve Bodow, head writer, The Daily Show
•
"Who can really judge what's funny? If humor is a subjective medium, then can there be something that is really and truly hilarious? Me. This book."—Daniel Handler, author, Adverbs, and personal representative of Lemony Snicket
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"The good news: I thought Our Kampf was consistently hilarious. The bad news: I’m the guy who wrote Monkeybone."—Sam Hamm, screenwriter, Batman, Batman Returns, and Homecoming
June 24, 2010
BLARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
One reason I admire Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting so much is their ability to remain calm as they've chronicled decades of shameless deceit.
The New York Times (6/22/10), Washington Post (6/21/10) and Nightline (6/23/10) all reported the remarks of Secretary of State Clinton that "the sky is bright green," with no dissenting views. The discussion on Nightline did include a debate on the subject, but both guests accepted the premise that the sky is bright green, differing only on exactly how bright the green is. In the future it would be appropriate for the outlets to include the perspective of some of the tens of thousands of meteorologists who have studied the sky intensively and unanimously concluded that it is blue.
(Note: not actual FAIR article.)
Today in light of the Rolling Stone piece that did in McChrystal, FAIR's blot takes a look back at the way journalists straightforwardly admit they trade soft coverage for access. I'd forgotten this excruciatingly painful statement by ABC's Martha Raddatz:
A warrior and a scholar, Petraeus is sometimes jokingly referred to as a water walker, since almost everything he touches seems to turn to gold.
All I can say about that is BLARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR, but FAIR manages to work it into something informed and coherent. Read it all.
P.S. When you say "he is sometimes called a water-walker, because ________" the blank should not be filled with something else metaphorical. For instance, don't write "he is sometimes called a water-walker, because he can charm the birds right out of the trees." See? (BLAAAR.)
—Jonathan Schwarz
Posted at June 24, 2010 05:41 PM"BLARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR"
That was quite onomatopoeic.
I'm not sure FAIR's restraint is good for my health. Their efficient detachment makes them all the more damning (as you say), but my blugger brain starts looking for the usual release valves. Where's the sardonic shotgun to the face, FAIR? This builds into gnawing unarticulated anger. So I come here of course. :)
Posted by: BenP at June 24, 2010 06:38 PMMaybe he has hydrophobic legs.
Posted by: Huntly at June 24, 2010 06:52 PMI'm gonna guess "Jesus". He thinks he's Jesus, and maybe so do others, or maybe his feet are as swimfins. Take heart, Petraeus is quite capable of keeping the opium fields SAFE for Democracy.
Posted by: Mike Meyer at June 24, 2010 06:58 PMMaybe Raddatz is hydrocephalic, hence her impaired ability to craft metaphors.
Posted by: some guy at June 24, 2010 09:48 PMYes, but the question remains -- Did it really rain last Thursday?
Posted by: Rob Payne at June 24, 2010 10:06 PMmaybe he is jesus, or his vicar:
"upon this Petraeus i will build my..."
Posted by: anonymous at June 25, 2010 08:13 AMIt is easier to charm the birds right out of the trees when they are covered in oil. It's all of a piece, really.
Posted by: Aaron Datesman at June 25, 2010 11:13 AMNow I totally have to see those forbidden Gnostic texts revealing that Jesus and King Midas are actually the same person. It certainly explains the freakout over the temple moneylenders: the very sight of gold pushed him over the edge.
Posted by: mds at June 25, 2010 01:39 PMThe first eight comments are so invaluable that I cannot improve on them.
And one does wonder how long before FAIR is taken down and put away - no one can be allowed the truth during these times of "terrorist" activity.
Posted by: Elise_Mattu02 at June 25, 2010 03:21 PMI'm with Elise- thank you all for invaluable commentary. Although, my heart belongs to Jonathan for "BLAAAARRRRRRR"
That's pretty much what rings in my ears every time I turn on ANY 24 hr news channel
I come here to scrape the scales from my eyes- it's a good kind of hurt. :)
Alex - if you have access to Al Jazeera (English) or Euronews, check them out - they have a higher signal-to-noise ratio.
Posted by: mistah charley, ph.d. at June 26, 2010 08:28 AM
