June 07, 2004
Marcia, Marcia, Marcia !!!
But enough about the New York Times... what do YOU think of the Times?
The New York Times has morphed from the nations paper of record into a self-important pamphleteering fishwrap. Not to put too fine a point on it...
In it's opinion column about Ronald Reagan, the Times cannot help but cast the memory of Reagan through it's own warped lens. The resulting image of Reagan resembles more a carnival funhouse mirror reflection than the image most Americans remember.
Of course, with the Times editorial board being composed of individuals utterly juxtaposed politically from Reagan, it's unsurprising that they fall short of a glowing endorsement of Reagan and his conservatism. But they go far beyond this, chalking up his notable success as President as chance fate, and casting Reagan in the guise of a happy-go-lucky beneficiary of events and cat's-paw of the real agents of change.
We don't recall the Times editorial board ever predicting the imminent collapse of the Soviet Union. But Reagan did. Of course, the Times chalks this up to Gorbachev, who voluntarity dissolved the Soviet empire in order to reduce international tensions, or so they'd have you believe. Reagan's easygoing style is also a Times target, and a criticism they level against the current President - a snarky, disdainful criticism it should be noted is commonly aimed at people in charge by people who think they ought to be in charge...
Of course, Reaganomics cannot possibly get a pass - and once again, the opportunity to shiv the current administration is too juicy for the Times to pass up. The only praise related to the Reagan economy the Times finds noteworthy is a brief moment of lucidity to raise taxes - no mention of breaking the back of inflation, nor the enormous growth of the 80's economy - just a brief but fleeting moment of perspicacity in an otherwise Times-derided policy.
The Times closes by noting how America and the times have outgrown Reagan's black and white simplicity and patriotism. There seems to be no need for moral clarity in the age of relativism and shades of gray.
Perhaps what there is no need of is self-important hubris disguised as informed opinion, expressed in a medium that is more suited as cage liner than record of enlightened American political thought. The Times has had this a long time coming - an inward focus that seeks only to express but not examine itself, culiminating recently with the pointless and gauche self-flagellation at having been duped by reports of Saddam's bad tidings, to this myopic and specious re-imagining of history and the Reagan Presidency. It's all about the Times and their outlook - it's all about Marcia.
And in their honor, we dedicate a new category at The Art Of Politics inspired by the Times - Marcia, Marcia, Marcia !!! - reserved for those who demonstrate a true center-of-attention deficit disorder...
Posted by MEC2 at June 7, 2004 03:00 AM