Frank Rich Has Reached a New Low
Paraphrasing Joseph Welch's famous shaming of McCarthy during the Army-McCarthy hearings, until this moment, Mr. Rich, I never gauged your recklessness.
In today's piece in the Times, Rich crafts yet another of his endless show business analogies, which substitute in his world for logic. This time it is Toto's exposure of the Wizard of Oz as a mortal man. Here is the money quote:
"The worst storm in our history proved perfect for exposing this president because in one big blast it illuminated all his failings: the rampant cronyism, the empty sloganeering of "compassionate conservatism," the lack of concern for the "underprivileged" his mother condescended to at the Astrodome, the reckless lack of planning for all government operations except tax cuts, the use of spin and photo-ops to camouflage failure and to substitute for action."
Note that buried in the middle of his short, undocumented, litany is a reference to Bush's mother's condescending statement at the Astrodome. Clearly it was condescending, but since when did we hold any adult children accountable for the utterances of their parents. Not only is Bush assumed to share his mother's views, but Rich lists it as if it were plainly the President's own feeling.
Was Jimmie Carter held accountable for all of Miss Lillian's statements? If mother's are now fair game, how about siblings. Does anyone recall Rich holding Presidents Carter and Clinton accountable for the shenanigans of brothers Billie and Roger? I doubt it.
Are there no limits to the bag of tricks, substituting for thought, that will be used in the name of Bush-Hating? I pray for Mr. Rich's sake that no moron out there tries to hold him accountable for any foolishness by elderly members of his family. It would be equally immoral. He has plenty to account for of his own doing. As does Mr. Bush.
In today's piece in the Times, Rich crafts yet another of his endless show business analogies, which substitute in his world for logic. This time it is Toto's exposure of the Wizard of Oz as a mortal man. Here is the money quote:
"The worst storm in our history proved perfect for exposing this president because in one big blast it illuminated all his failings: the rampant cronyism, the empty sloganeering of "compassionate conservatism," the lack of concern for the "underprivileged" his mother condescended to at the Astrodome, the reckless lack of planning for all government operations except tax cuts, the use of spin and photo-ops to camouflage failure and to substitute for action."
Note that buried in the middle of his short, undocumented, litany is a reference to Bush's mother's condescending statement at the Astrodome. Clearly it was condescending, but since when did we hold any adult children accountable for the utterances of their parents. Not only is Bush assumed to share his mother's views, but Rich lists it as if it were plainly the President's own feeling.
Was Jimmie Carter held accountable for all of Miss Lillian's statements? If mother's are now fair game, how about siblings. Does anyone recall Rich holding Presidents Carter and Clinton accountable for the shenanigans of brothers Billie and Roger? I doubt it.
Are there no limits to the bag of tricks, substituting for thought, that will be used in the name of Bush-Hating? I pray for Mr. Rich's sake that no moron out there tries to hold him accountable for any foolishness by elderly members of his family. It would be equally immoral. He has plenty to account for of his own doing. As does Mr. Bush.
posted by Joe Hogan at
2:38 PM
