Thomas, hypocrisy is like oxygen down in DC - you need it to survive. Probably the reason why a lot of good people never go into politics.
The press has been played, they know they've been played, and yet they give in anyway. Bob Bennet's news conf. out in L.A. was a media event designed to counterbalance the coverage of the release of the filing by the Jones team in time for the Saturday morning papers. (Bennett calling the filing "a pack of lies" - what a shocker!) They know it was crafted to fit the weekend news cycle, but they have to cover it.
When the networks book Begala, Emmanuel, and Lewis, knowing fully well that since the gameplan out of Washington is "deny, delay, attack" they're not going to get any straight answers, they willingly play into the spin and give them free TV time to bash Ken Starr and shift the public's attention. They know this is exactly what's happening (Nightline recently devoted an entire show to "spin cycle") and yet they play along.
IMHO, the femminist "agenda" is nothing more than common sense bashing down some of the barriers that history has erected. I support it, but the bargain they seem to be making in terms of muting their outcry because Clinton has been a supporter I find myopic and troubling. Part of what Patricia Ireland is saying to me by her silence is "I'm not so sure the movement can make progress w/o Bill Clinton", and that's bull. Long after Clinton is cutting the tape on the Clinton library, women will continue to make strides. IMHO the tactic of "selective outcry" is embarassing and has no place in a movement based on principles.
Good trading,
Tom |
