Nothing To See Here
Years ago, I thought Michael Kinsley's TRB column had sharp political writing. So when I read the hackwork he churns out today, I wonder what happened.
Here's a piece that might have been an interesting take on Al Franken's campaign. Most politicians have skeletons in the closet, but what happens when those skeletons are jokes? But we get no serious discussion. Instead, it's Kinsley boosting his pal Franken and taking cheap shots at Franken's opponent. He wouldn't have let this get past him back when he was an editor.
posted by LAGuy @ 12:33 AM
2 Comments:
L.A. Guy,
C'mon ... isn't Kinsley absolutely right (and for the reasons he gives) that if there's a candidate you think is good on the merits who's been a comedian, you're going to have accept some offensive stuff in his background? (I know you may reject the premise that Franken is good on the merits, but that's not the issue here.)
Look at this column by Michael Gerson that expresses shock at the vulgar things Franken has said. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/17/AR2008061702006.html
As between Kinsley and Gerson, which side are you on? I would have thought you would be clearly on the side saying that we are grown up enough to elect politicians who have made such jokes.
And Norm Coleman does put his finger to the wind as much as any politician around these ways. (Kinsley's "surfing the zeitgeist" phrase gets him dead to rights.) Are you saying Kinsley is wrong to criticize that?
My point isn't about whether Kinsley is right or not--I don't judge political writing merely based on whether or not I agree. What I don't like about the piece is he hardly makes his case--he mostly asserts it. There is an interesting article to be written about show biz types who run for office, but this isn't it.
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