I don't subscribe to or read any of the morning political newsletters because I've never felt the need to be told what's important and what isn't. I'll make up my own mind, thank you very much.
But this afternoon I happened to get referred to Politico's "West Wing Playbook," where I came across the following jaw-dropping item:
OUR DEEPEST APOLOGIES TO LYNN SWEET… In yesterday’s edition of West Wing Playbook, we wrote that LYNN SWEET of the Chicago Sun-Times and other reporters cut the long security line at the United Center. But Sweet reached out to say that we got it wrong. After waiting in line for 30 or 40 minutes with a Sun-Times intern, Sweet told us that she spotted someone she wanted to talk to and jumped ahead, but she ultimately went back to her place in line.
Seriously? They wrote an item yesterday about a reporter cutting the security line at the DNC? Are we all still in middle school?
God knows I'm OK with a break from endlessly earnest stories. Have some fun! But passing notes about how Lynn got backsies in the playground line—that's not even middle school. It's second grade. What the hell is wrong with these people?
Hasn't Politico always been middle school?
For years Charlie Pierce has called it "Tiger Beat on the Potomac."
what's politico?
[Henry Hill laughing gif]
Lynn Sweet is 73 years old, i.e. a fairly elderly woman except perhaps at an AARP conference. Democrats typically respect their elders and often volunteer ad hoc accommodations as courtesies.
Why are media outlets especially bad this election cycle? Apparently they’ve not only learned nothing they’ve also forgotten what little they’ve learned.
Second grade is about the right level of emotional maturity for the DC chatterati.
Slow media day.
I think they were ready for some old style Chicago political conventioneering. Chicago Police Department style, sadly for them Richard J. Daley is no longer mayor.
I take that as a serious question. I think many people might share my suspicion that human beings aren't all we're cracked up to be. We are very good at technology, for example, but we do seem to be rather immature in our ability to, say, get along with each other. To reason together. A man who was elected President exhibits thinking and rhetoric that not only echos but is dead center solid set in middle school. He is extremely popular. A lot of things become more understandable if we think of ourselves as children trying to figure things out.
We're mostly hairless apes.
Some people need to be reminded of their place in the royal court hierarchy from time to time.
There are simply too many pundits. They’ve run out of things to talk about so we’re left with either the embarrassing dross that is the NYT election coverage this year or reporters reporting on another reporter retracting a report on another reporter.
"...What the hell is wrong with these people?"
Kevin, you know the answer to this. You and I are almost exactly of an age. You had the same experience in school that I did, because we both came through right after the abolition of expectations ~~1960. What is wrong with them is that nobody ever taught them anything. Nobody ever thought they were worth teaching anything. They never interacted with anyone who did not see learning as an existential threat to civilization itself. Yes, they went to school; yes, they memorized certain material and passed certain tests; but they did not learn anything, at any level. The rituals were tailored to prevent learning, because anyone who learned anything would have rejected -- immediately, totally, and with vengeful horror -- everything that their parents believed, practiced, represented, and advocated. And since the schools are not for the students, but for the parents, they could not allow that.
it's like Veep was a documentary
Off-topic, but does anyone else have issues with this website not loading or loading very slowly?
All the time. And it also now seems to be having issues with getting it's rss feed picked up by my feed reader.
Constantly. Better on laptop, but not good. Impossible on the iPad I use for nearly everything else.
Time to upgrade your hosting, Kevin. It really is painful for me to get to your site these days and seems like a widespread issue. Also, that would be a perfect time to also upgrade the comment system!!!