pH Reading — Wednesday, September 10, 2008
September 10, 2008 by Patrick Henry · Leave a Comment
Is Trig at the Heart of Media’s Reaction to Palin?
RealClearPolitics · Mona Charen
There were basically two things known about Sarah Palin when her name was announced on Aug. 29 and the mediasphere began to shudder and pulsate: She was a recently elected governor and the mother of five children including a handicapped infant. The scorn from the mainstream press and the left-leaning blog world was both intense and instantaneous. Andrew Sullivan of The Atlantic immediately began circulating rumors that Trig was not the governor’s baby — that she had engaged in a huge charade to cover up her teen daughter’s illegitimate child. The New York Times reported on the front page that Palin had been a member of the Alaska Independence Party. Eleanor Clift of Newsweek described the reaction of most newsrooms to Palin’s elevation as “literally laughter.” US Weekly rushed out a cover story picturing Palin holding her baby son with the headline “Babies, Lies, & Scandal.”…
pH Reading — Sunday, August 31, 2008
August 31, 2008 by Patrick Henry · Leave a Comment
Who is Prepared to be President? Nobody
RealClearPolitics · Richard Reeves
Is Barack Obama prepared to be president? No. Neither is John McCain. I have written about 12 pounds of books on the presidency over the past 22 years, three long studies that focused on the day-to-day work of John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan. This is the most important thing I learned in doing that, a paragraph at the end of the introduction to “President Kennedy: Profile of Power”: “John F. Kennedy was one of only 42 men who truly knew what it is like to be president. He was not prepared for it, but I doubt that anyone ever was or ever will be. The job is sui generis. The presidency is an act of faith.”…
The Daily Brief — Monday, August 11, 2008
August 11, 2008 by Patrick Henry · Leave a Comment
In today’s Daily Brief… Al Franken draws a crowd… of one! And the mainstream media finally covers the Edwards’ affair–better late than never.
THE GOOD…
Why Are We Whispering?
Washington Post · Andrew Klavan
At a recent writers conference in Southern California, one of my colleagues on a screenwriters panel told the crowd of about 50 people that she hoped Barack Obama would win the presidency. A number of people applauded. When it was my turn to speak, I politely said that I disagreed with her politics and moved on to other topics. There was no applause for me, but several writers approached me afterward. Each dropped his voice to a whisper and, looking around to make sure no one would overhear, said, “Thank you for saying that.” Which raises a question for all conservatives in the arts: Why are we whispering?… more»
