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| 2015-03-22 |
| A somewhat humorous explication of a criticism by misogynist writer James Wolcott and an interview of Mellody Hobson by Bethany McLean which appeared in Vanity Fair by Washington Free Beacon writer Matthew Contenetti. An incredibly well written article and not just in the strictly technical sense. An excerpt: Life is not a television show. The picture of ravenous and thieving wealth one finds in James Wolcott’s columns or in the pages of fashionable journals or on MSNBC is dramatic fiction; it’s drawn more from memories of Dallas and The Sopranos than from reality. And yet this imaginary conceit is effortlessly transposed onto the world of politics and morality, where it finds expression in denunciations of the “One Percent,” of the wealthy that “don’t pay their fair share,” of Republicans who are thought to privilege the strong rather than empower the weak. I have no doubt that if Wolcott or one of his fan-boys were to encounter Hobson and Lucas or Rogers or Bill Bradley in a social setting they would be nothing but courteous and solicitous, making small talk and attempting to display their wit and breadth of knowledge, perhaps even dropping hints of their latest projects in the hopes of winning a kind word or grant. How a change of partisan affiliation, all so meaningless in the upper reaches of society, can immediately shut down a liberal’s moral imagination, send him reaching into his messenger bag of potted quotes from Balzac and dimly recalled undergraduate Marxist economics, is more than a shame. It is an indictment. |
| Posted by:badanov |
| #3 That would be James "I root for hurricanes" Wolcott, just in case anyone's wondering. |
| Posted by: Angie Schultz 2015-03-22 19:33 |
| #2 An interesting point about the two articles is that George Lucas loves fast food restaurants in real life, something the Bethany McLean was apparently unaware of. 30 years ago I read a Rolling Stone interview about Lucas where the writer was invited to dine with the Lucases... at the local Taco Bell. Lucas may not be a "burgers and pizza" kinda guy, but he does like to snarf down a Taco Bell grande every once in a while... |
| Posted by: badanov 2015-03-22 13:05 |
| #1 That was definitely worth the time I spent reading it at the link. Who was it who said, "God spare me from the well-intentioned!" |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2015-03-22 12:09 |