Posted on 02/12/2004 10:18:44 PM PST by Remember_Salamis
The Fourth Estate is not interested in petty gossip and unfounded rumors. We report on matters of high policy pertaining to the public interest. Consequently, the rumor of a sexual liaison between a certain presidential candidate and a female intern with the Associated Press wouldn't ordinarily be the sort of thing we'd stoop to publish or broadcast. Sadly, however, overriding considerations compel us to share this information with the public:
1) It's a press story. "Welcome to Reliable Sources, where we turn a critical lens on the media. I'm Howard Kurtz. Should the media report unsourced rumors about THAT WOMAN JOHN KERRY'S BEEN BANGING BEHIND TERESA'S BACK? How much coverage of a candidate's private life is too much? Here to discuss this with us are Tom Rosenstiel and Bob Guccione."
An imaginative new variation on this approach is to omit the ethics angle entirely and merely speculate about whether the press will report on the rumor, as if it were some other beast entirely from oneself.
2) It's an Internet phenomenon. The people sharing rumors about John Kerry's sex life by e-mail and on Weblogs constitute a vital new subculture—a new news medium, if you will, one that doesn't play by the old rules. This cries out for sociological analysis.
3) It's a story about bare-knuckled negative campaigning. Dukakis campaign manager John Sasso lost his job in 1988 for secretly distributing to TV news organizations an "attack video" comparing a speech by rival candidate Joe Biden with the speech it was plagiarized from, by British Labor Party leader Neil Kinnock. Shame on him! But thanks for the fabulous footage …
This time, the role of Sasso is played by Chris Lehane, former press secretary to Wes Clark, and, before that, to John Kerry. But in a new twist, Lehane's role is an unconfirmed rumor, too! (Lehane gets blamed for everything nasty in the 2004 presidential race.)
4) It's a story about financial impropriety, maybe. Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros' affair with Linda Jones became the public's business because he paid her more than $250,000 while the taxpayers were paying his salary. Apparently the taxpayers didn't want him spending his salary on a sexy blonde; they wanted him to spend it on a subscription to National Journal. Cisneros resolved this by paying $100,000 to the government. If this can be sold as a financial scandal, anything can.
5) It's a story about sexual harassment. See Paula Jones, Monica Lewinsky, et. al. In lieu of actual evidence, it's sufficient to find the accuser believable. That was Wall Street Journal editorialist Dorothy Rabinowitz's justification for running with the story of Juanita Broaddrick, who claimed that Bill Clinton raped her. Previously, Rabinowitz had achieved renown by disbelieving stories of sexual impropriety.
6) It's a story about character. Suzannah Lessard published an essay two decades ago in the New Republic about presidential candidate Ted Kennedy's womanizing, and what it might mean about his character. She tactfully left out the evidence. Now we never leave out evidence, or even speculation. If people say nasty things about you, that in itself reveals something about your character—even if they aren't true!
7) It's a story about hypocrisy. Every politician praises the institutions of marriage and the family. Ergo, every politician is a hypocrite when rumored to be having an affair. In the future, all politicians will be forced to praise promiscuity and to say that marriage should be banned not only for gays, but for heterosexuals.
8) It's a story about electability. Anything that's believed about Kerry, even if it's untrue, affects his electability. He is not a person. He is the public's perception of a person. A rumor is a component of that perception.
9) It's a story about a Democrat, and all Democrats are scum. This justification only works for the conservative press.
10) Lighten up—it's a humor piece! Never trust anyone who tries to justify himself this way.
Timothy Noah writes "Chatterbox" for Slate.
(Excerpt) Read more at slate.msn.com ...
He's a real card carrying liberal.
And I like it that way!
Mr. Mojo, lookie here!
I think it's a psycological thing.
42 had a bent crank and had to try everything to prove it still worked..sort of.
Kerry, unless he did the Rockefeller, got a limp stick after the prostrate operation; so, he's try to buck up his self-esteem.
Even their mutual hero had his sex life described as the sexiest MINUTE in a girl's life.
Common thread here. The power of position does not make up for a limp dipstick.
ROFL...it does in their minds!
In lieu of actual evidence, it's sufficient to find the accuser believable.The Boston Globe:
Burkett's allegations about the Bush records come as the White House is attempting to answer mounting questions about whether Bush fulfilled his obligations as a member of the Texas Air Guard during the early 1970s. Burkett's allegations also will be a major focus of a book on Bush to be published next month.But the book's author, James Moore, a former Houston TV news correspondent, concedes he never interviewed some of the key players who could have verified Burkett's charges, including Conn and retired National Guard Colonel John Scribner -- the officer Burkett says he saw removing items from the Bush file.
Moore, told yesterday that Conn contradicts Burkett's story, said he believes Burkett's allegations are true. "I think we're into a classic he-said, she-said," Moore said.
Yeh, it's rotten and stupid, and far from the truth. I knew Teresa and John quite well in Pittsburgh years ago, and believe me she wasn't frigid............. quite the opposite.
Now, living with Lurch could make some changes in any woman!
I think it was Rush who said he thought that this was probably leaked by Kerry himself to get the whole Hanoi Jane endorsement out of the press.This doesn't make the H-Jane endorsement go away. Maybe it takes a back-seat for awhile. But it's still there.
If John Effing Kerry gets the nomination, we'll be hearing more about Jane Effing Fonda... I guarantee it.
That's John Heinz, not John Kerry/Fonda.
Teresa was cool then, but hanging with Kerry has been damaging. ;)
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