WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 11, 2012
Boston Globe 17, Union Leader 10: Within the “press corps,” script never dies. This includes script from elections.
Examples:
Last night, in just one half-hour watching Chris Matthews, we heard two famous piece of script. Al Gore said he invented the Internet! Al Gore introduced the nation to Willie Horton!
These are famous old pieces of RNC script—and within your “press corps,” script never dies! Script is easy to memorize. And it helps the tribunes craft the silly, stupid-shit novels they use as a stand-in for news.
Every four years, in New Hampshire, we hear another piece of script concerning the state’s most powerful paper. The tribunes love to rattle their tales about the powerful Union Leader. They drag out the feisty Joe McQuaid, the paper’s outspoken publisher.
Can we talk? For good or for ill, the Union Leader just isn’t really that potent. Everyone knows this by now, of course. But every four years, it’s good solid fun to pretend. It adds to the color, the drama.
This year, the Union Leader endorsed Newt Gingrich. He got 9.4 percent. (We’re willing to call it ten.)
The Boston Globe endorsed Jon Huntsman. He got seventeen.
Did the Globe’s endorsement help? We have no idea. But the Globe is sold all over southern New Hampshire—and that’s where the people live.
On several occasions, we’ve tried to get a number for the Globe’s circulation in New Hampshire. We’ve never been able to do it. But we can give you the score from last night’s Bain Capital Granite State Bowl:
The Boston Globe beat the Union Leader, 17-10.
Of one thing you can be certain, of course. Four years hence, in 2016, the press corps will tell you all about the powerful Union Leader. They’ll drag out the feisty Joe McQuaid, who doesn’t seem to move many votes but really is quite entertaining.
The missing link.
ReplyDelete>>>>>Did Al Gore “bring Willie Horton into that race?” Only in the dysfunctional world of our deeply devolved public discourse. What actually happened in 1988? In one of 45 Dem debates that year, Candidate Gore challenged Candidate Dukakis to defend a Massachusetts furlough program under which convicts serving life sentences without hope of parole were released on weekend passes.
In particular, Gore noted that two furloughed prisoners had committed new murders while on weekend leave. (Willie Horton was not one of these convicts.) The program was almost impossible to defend. But Gore only mentioned the program once, and he never mentioned any prisoner’s name; never mentioned any prisoner’s race; never ran any TV ads on the topic; and never used any visuals. More specifically, he never named Willie Horton, or mentioned his specific crime (Horton committed a brutal rape while on leave).
In the Bush-Dukakis general election, the Bush campaign—and an independent, pro-Bush group—made extensive use of the Horton incident. In particular, the independent group used visuals of Horton which seemed to emphasize his race (he was black). In later years, as he neared his death, Bush campaign director Lee Atwater apologized for his own conduct in pushing the racial aspects of the Horton matter.<<<<<
See also Chapters I - Gore Ignored and Chapter II- The RNC Speaks in "Where does spin come from? Inventing the internet" parts of this old Howler post for one of many of Bob Somerby's discussions of Al Gore's internet quote.
Yanno, I don't think anyone in the press corps (almost typed "corpse" there--cheap shot) has noticed that William Loeb, famously fearsome publisher of the Union-Leader, died several years ago. Mr. McQuaid just doesn't have that kind of clout.
ReplyDelete"Yanno?" What in Hell does that mean?
ReplyDeleteHorace Fudpucker
"Yanno?" What in Hell does that mean?
ReplyDeleteHorace Fudpucker
"Yanno?" What in Hell does that mean?
ReplyDeleteHorace Fudpucker
I expect it's a version of "you know."
ReplyDeletegreat pics!!!! very country side effect, love your outfit so chic and lovely!!!
ReplyDelete