"Sure, Carl Paladino--prominent Republican, former gubernatorial candidate, and currently running for United States Congress--praised Hitler and has been openly racist. But as a matter of fairness the Times must point out that a certain college student at Middlebury once opined that Marx was very good in 'Night at the Opera.' Thus, both sides have leaders who are at the extremes, though we must say that praising Marx is so far beyond the pale that Mr. Paladino's remarks are, by comparison, rather pedestrian."
Jun 10, 2022·edited Jun 10, 2022Liked by Roy Edroso
This is great! Pitch perfect.
I'll be honest, I think we're fucked on this one. Big City newspaper jobs have turned into cool cat positions for Trust- funders ( they're the only people who can afford to go through the unpaid internships) so we're never going to get any more literate than Mitt and Buffy's Middle School Instagram account.
This tepid bullshit at the NYT & other big media outlets is exactly why the liberal solution to everything will be "Do nothing, but harder this time" and make a lot of excuses for why it didn't get done today or the time before.
The ones we are forced to put all our trust in have no sense of urgency beyond a 2-year or 4-year election cycle. No one can call a fascist a fascist...
Like I keep saying, nothing tastes finer to your mainstream media type than reactionary ass, even the Nazi-loving variety. The NYT is the leading QED for this proposition.
Memo to Palladino: The GOP has in fact provided the kind of leader you want exciting the masses: DC, 6 January 2021, then-POTUS/huge loser Donnie Trump.
NYT this morning: “Analysis - Trump depicted as a would-be autocrat…” The art is in the “depicted” and “would-be.” “COVID depicted as a would-be pandemic.” “AR-15 depicted as would-be means of slaughtering 10 year olds.” “Putin depicted as would-be invader of Ukraine.” EB White would be vomiting over the weaselly words NYT headline writers use to avoid stating the truth.
I like how the lone Democrat quoted chooses to form his "attack" as a rhetorical question:
“How has the Republican Party stooped so low to support a man who has gone on record idolizing a monster that senselessly killed millions?"
That's how you know the Dems have taken the gloves off, when they ask some REALLY pointed questions. No, "This is today's Republican party, etc," wouldn't do, let's not go asserting things when we know that's the Republicans' job.
This is how you write satire folks. Wit that creates its own logic as it vivisects a bunch of worthy targets with surgical precision, and a crescendo of humor to a brilliant climax (in the penultimate paragraph as I see it). Roy is so good at this.
Another note-perfect capture of the zeitgeist, Mr. Edroso. These sketches always make me think about the odd place in our culture held by the few newspapers left. They are generally perceived as "important" in some vague way, whether the local rags who can no longer afford to cover state politics or the 2 based in their seats of power (DC and NY, and does anyone pay attention to the LA Times? Why not? Chicago I get being ignored, but LA is still pretty important culturally and financially), while widely reviled by the Left and Right for not catering to their biases, Reality and Resentment, respectively. This must keep them permanently off-balance, trying to guess what will preserve, let alone enhance, the shreds of relevance they have left. Maybe the Times looks at the Post and sees what picking a side gets you, and nopes out on that. There must be a few dinosaurs mixed in with the trust fund kids, since they do (some) honest reporting, but their approach to Opinion is to have all of them, facts and sanity be damned. What value they see in that i have no idea.
"Sure, Carl Paladino--prominent Republican, former gubernatorial candidate, and currently running for United States Congress--praised Hitler and has been openly racist. But as a matter of fairness the Times must point out that a certain college student at Middlebury once opined that Marx was very good in 'Night at the Opera.' Thus, both sides have leaders who are at the extremes, though we must say that praising Marx is so far beyond the pale that Mr. Paladino's remarks are, by comparison, rather pedestrian."
This is great! Pitch perfect.
I'll be honest, I think we're fucked on this one. Big City newspaper jobs have turned into cool cat positions for Trust- funders ( they're the only people who can afford to go through the unpaid internships) so we're never going to get any more literate than Mitt and Buffy's Middle School Instagram account.
This tepid bullshit at the NYT & other big media outlets is exactly why the liberal solution to everything will be "Do nothing, but harder this time" and make a lot of excuses for why it didn't get done today or the time before.
The ones we are forced to put all our trust in have no sense of urgency beyond a 2-year or 4-year election cycle. No one can call a fascist a fascist...
Mr. Hitler could not be reached for comment.
Like I keep saying, nothing tastes finer to your mainstream media type than reactionary ass, even the Nazi-loving variety. The NYT is the leading QED for this proposition.
Memo to Palladino: The GOP has in fact provided the kind of leader you want exciting the masses: DC, 6 January 2021, then-POTUS/huge loser Donnie Trump.
NYT this morning: “Analysis - Trump depicted as a would-be autocrat…” The art is in the “depicted” and “would-be.” “COVID depicted as a would-be pandemic.” “AR-15 depicted as would-be means of slaughtering 10 year olds.” “Putin depicted as would-be invader of Ukraine.” EB White would be vomiting over the weaselly words NYT headline writers use to avoid stating the truth.
"What would you have our reporters do? Call up Republicans until they find one who is willing to go on record against Mr. Hitler?"
:D :D :D
ALL the points for referencing Walter Duranty, especially in these times.
"Hitler is controversial, after all, but at least nobody mentioning his name burned all of America's cities to the ground two years ago."
I like how the lone Democrat quoted chooses to form his "attack" as a rhetorical question:
“How has the Republican Party stooped so low to support a man who has gone on record idolizing a monster that senselessly killed millions?"
That's how you know the Dems have taken the gloves off, when they ask some REALLY pointed questions. No, "This is today's Republican party, etc," wouldn't do, let's not go asserting things when we know that's the Republicans' job.
[Landlady looks at map, turns to Mr Bins]
“Oh no, this isn’t Prospect Heights; it’s Stalingrad. You wouldn’t have had much fun in Stalingrad!”
I'm waiting for the day the Times quotes some Republican about how WWII wasn't really that bad compared to Benghazi.
This is how you write satire folks. Wit that creates its own logic as it vivisects a bunch of worthy targets with surgical precision, and a crescendo of humor to a brilliant climax (in the penultimate paragraph as I see it). Roy is so good at this.
Another note-perfect capture of the zeitgeist, Mr. Edroso. These sketches always make me think about the odd place in our culture held by the few newspapers left. They are generally perceived as "important" in some vague way, whether the local rags who can no longer afford to cover state politics or the 2 based in their seats of power (DC and NY, and does anyone pay attention to the LA Times? Why not? Chicago I get being ignored, but LA is still pretty important culturally and financially), while widely reviled by the Left and Right for not catering to their biases, Reality and Resentment, respectively. This must keep them permanently off-balance, trying to guess what will preserve, let alone enhance, the shreds of relevance they have left. Maybe the Times looks at the Post and sees what picking a side gets you, and nopes out on that. There must be a few dinosaurs mixed in with the trust fund kids, since they do (some) honest reporting, but their approach to Opinion is to have all of them, facts and sanity be damned. What value they see in that i have no idea.
Thanks for making this public, Roy. I'll do what I can to spread the Gospel of Ed Roso across the continents.