http://www.ibabuzz.com/politics/2008/02/22/spite-over-substance/ Politics in the Bay Area and beyond Wed, 22 May 2013 02:57:08 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 http://www.ibabuzz.com/politics/2008/02/22/spite-over-substance/comment-page-1/#comment-5777 Election merchandising, good and bad - Political Blotter - Politics in the Bay Area and beyond Fri, 29 Aug 2008 14:26:15 +0000 http://www.ibabuzz.com/politics/2008/02/22/spite-over-substance/#comment-5777 [...] Some of it’s not bad, actually. It’s hard not to get a chuckle out of “72 Things Younger Than John McCain” by Joe Quint and “ObamaMania: The English Language Barackafied” by the editors of Slate, both recently released by Simon & Schuster’s Fireside imprint. The former is a fantasia of stuff that has come into the world since McCain was born 72 years ago today (happy birthday, Senator!) — including penicillin, Spam, the ZIP code, latex paint, the Slinky and 49 out of 50 U.S. governors — and the latter is a lexicon of Obama-inspired terminology — including the Barackolyte (”a devotee of the Dalai Lobama”) and Obamamatopoeia (”an excellent Barack Obama impression”). Neither book requires undue brain power, and neither is meant to: With McCain cracking wise about his own age and with Obama inspiring new heights (depths?) of rhetorical devotion, these books feel lightly amusing without being mean-spirited. (As I’ve blogged earlier, I have no patience for political humor based solely on partisan spite.) [...]

]]> http://www.ibabuzz.com/politics/2008/02/22/spite-over-substance/comment-page-1/#comment-5776 Andrew Alden Sun, 24 Feb 2008 22:29:22 +0000 http://www.ibabuzz.com/politics/2008/02/22/spite-over-substance/#comment-5776 Since you’re against dumbing things down, I hope you have spoken up to the front-page editor who allowed the substance-free slander from Nedra Pickler to take up the main page 1 headline in the Sunday Tribune. “Barack Obama doesn’t put his hand over his heart for the Pedge of Allegiance!” (It was the national anthem) “Michelle Obama hates America!” Pickler even managed to talk about the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth without bothering to mention that everything they accused Senator Kerry about in 2004 was a lie. The Trib had no business printing that story, and they seem to be too ashamed to put it on this website. But there it is, black and white, in my paper. I am dismayed.

]]>