Area Reporter Pretty Sure That Gifs of Biden Facial Expressions Will Be More Popular Than Any Reported SOTU Piece
— daveweigel (@daveweigel) January 20, 2015
Alex Pareene starting his new Gawker gig:
Six years into the Obama presidency, I thought we’d finally run out of hotshot administration bros the political press could glowingly profile in exchange for future access to meaningless scooplets. I was wrong.
Yesterday, The New York Times introduced us to Cody “Hemingway” Keenan. The president has given him the nickname “Hemingway,” not because he is an overrated drunk— though he may indeed be that—but because he writes and has a beard. Unlike Hemingway, who wrote novels and stories that people still revere decades after his death, Keenan writes speeches that the president delivers and that everyone promptly forgets, because modern political speeches are disposable garbage. Judging by this profile, though, no one seems to have explained that distinction to Keenan, his friends, or Times reporter Michael Schmidt…
Modern political speechwriting is not a high-minded pursuit for brilliant talents. Aaron Sorkin should be shot into space for perpetuating this bullshit fantasy that still enamors hacks like Cody Keenan. Writing a 6,000-word presidential speech is a process that bears only a mechanical resemblance to writing 6,000 words meant to be read and appreciated by normal humans. Some political speechwriters may also happen to be good writers, but they would have to achieve success in a field other than political speechwriting to prove it…
Before any knickers get knotted, Pareene says “Barack Obama is himself actually a decent writer… he is a good orator who has delivered some memorable speeches”. This is not about insulting President Obama; it’s about mocking the political reporters fixated on the “ceremony” instead of the President’s proposals.
***********
Apart from which, what’s on the agenda for the evening?
Corner Stone
*Klaxons sounding loudly*
Too late! TOO LATE!!
Laertes
I’m halfway down the first page and I can’t finish a paragraph without finding a sentence that I’m delighted to have read. I don’t remember if I hate this guy or not, but so far I’m getting a kick out of his work at Gawker.
piratedan
You mean that the national Press Corps(e) are more concerned with Style than substance? Whocoulddanode? I see better reporting over on the E network than I do from the vast majority of the MSM these days, if only I ever gave a shit about what media star/starlette was up for what role then perhaps I could be better informed.
David Koch
How can President Obama’s approval rating be above 50% when he didn’t go to Paris and he refuses to utter the phrase “war on terror”? How can it be!?
Corner Stone
I always hated that part of West Wing. Where Rob Lowe was passing the writing torch to ulti-dork and he was all like, “There are only six people in the world who could do this.”
David Koch
@piratedan:
but, but… tan suit!
and, and… exotic Hawaii!
burnspbesq
Which is a pointless exercise, since none of the objects of said mockery are likely to change any behaviors in response thereto. But if pointless exercises float your boat, sail on.
Major Major Major Major
Depression’s been kicking my ass today. I’m skipping the speech to play board games with friends.
ETA: just checked the respective times, looks like I might accidentally watch it anyway, so much for my brilliant plan
Howard Beale IV
Uncorking another bottle of Stone Brewery’s Arrogant Bastard Ale.
If I get shat on this review , it’s time to find a new home.
NotMax
I blame Pat Buchanan.
ranchandsyrup
Pareene is cool and good. Enjoyed this.
I posted today about adventures with the concept of empathy over the past year.
jl
@David Koch: ‘Jobs jobs jobs’ starting to appear, and lower oil prices. I think Obama could have gotten the jobs sooner if his macroeconomic policy choices, or at least recommendation and requests, had been better. But nobody is perfect.
Obama maybe would not have gotten the trillion plus fiscal stimulus early in the administration, but at least he could have said ‘I told you so, dammit’. But that is just my opinion.
But, maybe the political consultant and pundit BS artists are right, it was the triple reverse head fake, and credibility whatever that challenged the narrative of whatever, or portrayed the GOP and blue-jays in heat, or something…
jl
I didn’t understand this part;
” Peggy Noonan could down two bottles of white wine and crank this kind of shit out in ten minutes before passing out. ”
That is, Peggy Noonan could have written the same stuff on a relatively abstemious day, for her. So? They’re both professional speech writers.
burnspbesq
What’s on the agenda for tonight? Playing with my … new toy.
Pono player: sound quality awesome, interface somewhat annoying.
Corner Stone
Reminds me more than a whiff of all the bro-worthy hagiographies of Harper Reed, once upon a time.
To quote myself on that topic:
SiubhanDuinne
I’m feeling quite chuffed with myself and my increasing ability to overcome, or at least cope with, my needle phobia. Had blood drawn today and scarcely flinched (as opposed to a year or two ago when I would have fainted dead away after wailing and hyperventilating). No, I still don’t like it — in fact, I hate it — and I’m not about to get a tattoo or my ears pierced or anything like that. But this is a HUGE win for me, and anyone here who has dealt with genuine phobias (phobiae?) knows exactly what I’m talking about.
Mike in NC
Tonight is the beginning of the final season of “Justified” on FX, where U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens faces off against the criminal scum of rural eastern Kentucky.
Not sure how many of them might be related to Mitch McConnell.
David Koch
Whaaaaaaaaaatttt? Alex Pareene doesn’t believe in the Bully Pulpit? ! ? ! He thinks it’s a “fantasy” — How can that be!?
WereBear
@SiubhanDuinne: I’m thrilled for you!
With your accident it’s like flooding therapy.
sharl
@ranchandsyrup: I like Pareene too, and he has provided some fun writing, e.g., the annual Hack List he used to put out when he was at Salon.
But one of my favorites was when CNBC made the inscrutable but delightful decision to bring him onto one of their discussion shows. These are normally forgettable exercises in kissing Wall $treet ass, but that one sure wasn’t. I like the YouTube version where Sam Seder and Matt Taibbi give that whole hilarious thing the MST3K treatment – link here, runs a bit over 16_minutes with some short ad breaks.
Pareene actually criticized his own performance after the fact. Whatever,… still funny as hell, and left those two Wall $treet suck-ups he was on with rather discombobulated.
Groogrux87
Not an entirely fair portrayal of Cody Keenan. He’s the guy who wrote the Arizona speech after Rep. Giffords was shot. The President added some personal touches but most of the poetry and powerful rhetoric was Cody’s. He does come across as a detached dudebro, but when the chips are down, the guy can write.
different-church-lady
Is there anything more boring than writers writing about other writers?
WaterGirl
@SiubhanDuinne: My nephew has a needle phobia and medical people don’t take it seriously at all. They don’t seem to understand the difference between that and “I don’t like needles”.
Good for you for today’s triumph!!
Edit: You were in an accident?
different-church-lady
@Major Major Major Major:
For some reason I’m finding January to be more January than usual this year. Gotta go find that bottle of vitamin D I bought last winter…
srv
Like Peggy Noonan, I will be drinking a shot every time Obama says ‘I’ during his speech.
This is an opportunity to get shit-faced for what might have been. The real Hemingway would approve.
different-church-lady
@srv:
Take the theme to its full conclusion: drink Death In The Afternoons.
SiubhanDuinne
@WereBear:
@WaterGirl:
Thanks! Yes, big difference between a genuine phobia and a mere distaste.
I’ve thought for a long time (it’s possible I’ve mentioned this before) that ther’s a real connection between addictions and phobias. I’ve had both in my time, and I know how easy it is — and ultimately how devastating and life-denying it is — to arrange one’s entire day around feeding the addiction/avoiding the phobia. I always wonder if anyone has done a proper study on the way addictive and phobic behaviors are linked. I could provide a fair amount of anecdotal data.
Violet
Since this is an open thread, here’s a stupid problem but one I can’t figure out. My DVR is almost full. Got home and was going to watch a show to create some room.but when I opened the recorded programs list I discovered that somewhere between this morning and this evening three programs were deleted.
No one else had access to the DVR during the day. No programs were recorded. They were in the DVR list this morning. Now they’re gone. What happened? Where did they go?
ranchandsyrup
@sharl: oh man i had forgotten about the CNBC episode. Good stuff! Thx for links.
Howard Beale IV
@sharl: I think Pareene did a stint at Wonkette too.
SiubhanDuinne
@WaterGirl:
I was going to ask WereBear about my accident :-) I don’t remember being in one, but these days I can’t even trust my memory.
@WereBear:
Was I in an accident? It’s possible….
cokane
hmm ive missed pareene
burnspbesq
Heads-up for fans of the Decemberists: they will be doing a live-in-studio session at KCRW tomorrow, to promote their new record that was released today. Those things normally start around 11:15 a.m. Pacific time.
Howard Beale IV
@Violet: Unless you built your own DVR(a la Windows Media Center/XBMC), you don’t own your own DVR-the networks can do whatever the fuck they want and can make shit disappear.
RSA
@sharl:
Yet another fan here. It’s sad about online media that a clever political writer could move from Gawker to Salon and then back to Gawker.
Major Major Major Major
@Violet: in my experience depending on your settings it can just delete the oldest programs to free up room, or delete the oldest episode of a program to free up space for the newest, etc. automatically
srv
@Violet:
No one BUT Obama.
Purging your bits for his insufferable performance piece.
Cervantes
@SiubhanDuinne:
Good on you. Nicely done.
Buddy H
Our evening ritual: my wife likes to watch and play along with “wheel of fortune” (I can’t stand Pat Sajak, but I play along anyway) and then we watch Jeopardy. I guess our logic is we’re exercising our brains against dementia.
I notice the weird, stonerish Waka Flocka Flame cough drop commercials. It’s so surreal, having Sajak and Vana pause for a commercial break, and see Waka looking like a stoner youtube video. I think there was even a blast of smoke.
I explained to my wife that the cough drops are used to soothe throats irritated by heavy blunt smoking.
Waka Flocka Flame named himself after the sound your bic lighter makes when you’re lighting a joint.
(In case that ever comes up on Jeopardy)
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Wasn’t Pareene at Gawker before he went to Salon? That’s how I found gawker, links to a guy brutally smacking the crap out of IIRC Tom Friedman. This seems a bit phoned in compared to some of his stuff I remember.
Another Holocene Human
Barack Obama is a decent writer … you know Alex, followed you a long time, love the way you skewer the pundits and the animals in journamalism … but come on, as much as I’ve laughed at your Salon pieces, I truly enjoyed reading Dreams From My Father. It was really gripping and engaging, especially the last segment of the book, perhaps a bit reminiscent of long-form journalism, which I also read, you know, and as much as I like you Alex, just because Barack Obama is no Bill Clinton (or what have you) of political communication doesn’t mean he isn’t a good writer. Like, he had a life and did shit before he started running for national office. Everything is not politics. Some day, the universe willing, Barack Obama is going to write about his years in the Oval Office and I suspect I am going to enjoy reading that very much too.
And since this is a haterz thread (?), Alex Pareene was at Gawker BEFORE, and is going back now that First Look imploded … and in more hating, it says everything about him that he is such a Matt Taibbi fanboi. Look, Pareene, you could be just like him if you laid it on thick, exaggerated, argued in bad faith, and had your tongue up your own butt like Matty boy. Jeezus.
Cacti
I’m wondering what hog mutilator will have to say afterwards.
The economy’s on the mend and the GOP did nothing to contribute to it. Hard to unring that bell.
WaterGirl
@Violet: Not sure what kind of DVR you have, but Tivo has a “Recently Deleted” folder. Does your DVR have anything like that so you can recover your programs?
Cervantes
@Groogrux87:
No, not entirely.
And as for:
Same is true of all political speeches, modern, ancient, or in between. The ones we remember are, obviously, exceptional.
Violet
@Howard Beale IV: Yeah, but I haven’t had this happen before. It only deletes to make room if it needs the room. Nothing recorded today so it shouldn’t have needed any room.
@Major Major Major Major:
Stuff auto-deletes to make room for new shows if it’s not marked “Save until I delete.” But only if it needs the room. Absolutely nothing happened on the TV from this morning to this evening. No shows recorded. It should not have needed room for anything. So weird.
@srv:
Well, there’s that.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Cacti: Eek, big government liberal. That was easy.
Violet
@WaterGirl: Hmmm…I’m not aware of that. I’ll have a look around. It’s not Tivo, though.
MomSense
@Major Major Major Major:
Sorry to hear that depression is giving you trouble today. Please care for yourself.
Watching Khan Academy videos and helping my son with his math homework. Puppy is chewing toys at my feet–and sometimes my feet. My son really wants to watch the SOTU tonight so he got an early start on the homework. He hasn’t been ruined by cynicism and thinks this is important (so suck it haterz!).
Anyone have a good experience with a particular brand of dog DNA testing? We have multiple possibilities and would like to see what she is.
SiubhanDuinne
@Cervantes:
Thanks!
Cervantes
@Buddy H:
I do not watch his show but I do know he’s a right-winger and not a particularly bright one.
Another Holocene Human
@David Koch: Are you confusing Pareene with somebody else? Anyway, co-sign me on the Sorkin hate.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Cacti: I’m with Pierce on Ernst. She and Cory Gardner are different from most of their fellow travelers in that they’re both willing and able to to fake normal. I was surprised to see today that Rick Santorum wants people to know he’s gonna stop talking about birth control and “libertinism”, I think he’s willing, but won’t prove able in the long run. The memory of whatever Mother Santorum did when she caught him looking at the naughty pages of the JC Penney catalogue are too strong. Marco Rubio, just more generally not able. And poor Bobby Jindal… a freakin’ Rhodes Scholar? I guess the chartiable explanation is he’s too smart to effectively pander to the stupid.
Another Holocene Human
@Cervantes: He was a fucking douche to Vanna, I can tell you that.
Another Holocene Human
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: rofl at JC Penney catalogue
damn, I remember those Sears bibles
jl
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Thanks for the link to the Pierce piece. I did not follow the Ernst campaign closely at all. I did not know she ditched the crazy for a relentless focus on folksy and complete lack of substance. Let’s see if she can pull it off tonight.
But even if she can, how long can she parlay folksy and complete lack of substance in national politics, for a far more extended period than one Senate campaign? Maybe she is the next G W Bush, but I am not as sure as Pierce that it will work. Sooner or later she will pull a Perry, or something similar.
Edit: And why did Santorum have to come out and announce that he will not talk like a crazed obsessive religious fanatic anymore? Why not just not talk that way? I admit that I do not understand the denizens of our current GOP very well.
JPL
@SiubhanDuinne: Glad that you are okay. My ex had a phobia to heights that became apparent when he was driving across the Sunshine Bridge in St. Pete. I was in the back seat and noticed that he was slowing down, sweating profusely and ashen in color. He was in the far left lane and decided it was a good idea to stop and back up.
Cervantes
@Another Holocene Human:
Was he? I know nothing about her or his treatment of her.
Anya
I love Pareene, but he’s totally unfair to Cody Keenan.
JPL
@MomSense: Good for your son. I hope that the repubs are on best behavior and don’t call the pres a liar. If they do you, might write a note to the offender and let them know, you and your son were not impressed. I love the puppy updates.
David Koch
@Another Holocene Human: the quotes denouncing the value of speeches are his from his new post at gawker
WereBear
@SiubhanDuinne: Sorry, must have been someone else.
Violet
@WereBear: MomSense was the one who had the car accident, if that was what you were thinking about.
How are you feeling today?
Josie
@SiubhanDuinne: Congratulations. I know a little something about phobias – not needles but heights. It can be so debilitating. You should feel so proud about making such progress with yours. Keep up the brave work.
jl
@Anya: Not on a par with Pareene’s other work. The name Cody Keenan has a ring to it that is just a little too snappy. Pareene’s piece has almost no content, mainly it is jeering diatribe with little analysis or argument. When I read it, the thought struck me that the sound of the name Cody Keenan was the inspiration for the piece.
So, political speech writing is not a high form of literary art these days. And, what?
If there is much difference between Keenan’s and Noonan’s work, Pareene doesn’t argue it. He just shoots out a one liner.
The Dangerman
I can’t get excited about the SOTU. Amongst other things, is going to ask for Tax Changes that negatively impact the 1%.
Before the Republicans ever consider Tax Changes that negatively impact the 1%, they will rediscover the words “well-regulated militia” in the 2nd Amendment, decide that Sharia Law is worth giving a try, and publicly endorse both Hookers and Blow. I understand trolling them and all, but I just can’t get excited about the process.
Buddy H
@JPL: My ex had a phobia to heights that became apparent when he was driving across the Sunshine Bridge in St. Pete.
I’m not familiar with that bridge so I googled it, and my palms got sweaty just looking at it. I’ve got a full-blown bridge-and-highway phobia, it got real bad a few years ago and now I just can’t drive them anymore.
There is actually a yelp page on that bridge, and more than one yelper mentions anxiety attacks:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/sunshine-skyway-bridge-tampa
Steeplejack (tablet)
@sharl:
I agree, Pareene on CNBC shredding Jamie Dixon was hilarious. The “MST3K” version is pretty good too.
Corner Stone
@Groogrux87:
Is there actually a “but” that can follow that and mitigate it in any meaningful way?
Corner Stone
Man, has Kornacki fallen wayyyy off the radar or what?
the Conster
@different-church-lady:
Vitamin D is completely underrated. I started taking 3-4000 IUs daily about 5 years ago, and haven’t been sick since, and I commute on a train that many days sounds like a TB ward in addition to touching door handles and elevator buttons and railings that are touched by hundreds of strangers a day. We in the northern hemisphere are drastically deficient in VitD which bolsters the immune system’s infrastructure. VitD plus a daily capsule of turmeric, plus a daily apple and an avocado. My two cents.
Mnemosyne (iPhone)
@SiubhanDuinne:
After being his patient for almost a decade, my dentist can now clean my teeth without local anesthesia so, yes, I know how you feel. ?
Steeplejack (tablet)
@Violet:
Most DVRs have the option to “save until manually erased” or “save until space is needed.” Maybe those three programs were the latter?
ETA: It’s possible that the DVR erased the programs to make space, then still didn’t have enough room for the new show. So you see three shows gone and no new show.
Corner Stone
Klobuchar, you go kiss all of your own ass.
Turgidson
Cody Keenan was in my junior high school class, but moved away for high school. Pretty hard to imagine the kid I knew writing speeches for President f’n Obama. He was bright and witty, but kind of a wiseguy. Also he apparently was QB of his high school team. That’s…just as hard to believe. Must have been a small school with few athletes, or he undertook a tremendous transformation of his physique after he moved.
Good guy, though. I’m happy for him, and a little jealous.
Ripley
Wait, I know this one: “But so does every other white male in the U.S.A.”
Keith G
It’s not just speeches. Twelve years from now (that’s at least two new presidents), I doubt that randomly snagging citizens off the street would get you more than a few folks who could tell you more than a half of a dozen factual statements about Obama’s policy initiatives and successes.
Villago Delenda Est
The vile theofascist shit that is Tony Perkins had his own “State of the Family” address last night, and as you might expect, taxes are too high, gays are on the loose, sluts aren’t being punished, and we’re not paying sufficient deference to his invisible sky buddy.
Perkins really, really needs to get laid, but there is no self respecting gay who would ever touch him.
Perhaps he can hook up with Lindsey Graham?
Corner Stone
Huh Huh Joni Ernst…what the fuck is wrong with Iowa?
jl
@Villago Delenda Est: Perkins has shown admirable discipline in not talking about his history of financial corruption. Maybe Santorum is using Perkins as an inspiration for shutting his mouth on sectarian religious zealotry.
Elizabelle
We can haz SOTU thread soon?
Anything happening? I’m watching some old Law & Orders (Michael Moriarty and Chris Noth) on a cable channel I’d never heard of before.
Turgidson
Pareene’s piece reads like some who is a bit miffed that Keenan’s work is more important than his own wankery. “Well, he’s a jerk because people won’t be quoting his speeches in 50 years. HA! I showed him!”…says the guy whose thoughts will be forgotten when the next news cycle starts, if not sooner.
Corner Stone
Oooo, burn Cody Keenan.
Pres Obama does the final SoTU speech.
David Koch
Hilarious photo of Obama and Cody Keenan
SiubhanDuinne
@JPL:
I think a significant number of us (obviously not all) suffer from some kind of phobia. The specific phobia-object (needles, heights, public speaking, whatever) I think is less significant than whatever goes on psychologically and physiologically. Truly, I don’t believe this has been studied nearly enough.*
*Yes, I know there are all kinds of behavioral tricks and techniques to help cope, but I’m talking about the true guts of phobic/addictive reactions.
Violet
@Steeplejack (tablet): The programs had the warning sign that they might be erased, so I was aware I could lose them. But I figured since nothing was recording between this morning and tonight, I’d have a chance to watch something when I got home and make enough room to record tonight’s show.
I was really surprised to find out that the DVR had erased three hours of recordings for no reason that I could see. Absolutely nothing recorded during the day today. The DVR didn’t need the space for anything. The programs were there when I left this morning and gone when I got home this evening.
Corner Stone
@Turgidson: Pareene’s piece is hilarious. Who gives a shit who Keenan is? Or any other word humper in the last 40 years?
Pogonip
I would like to see the president–or the next one, for that matter–give the following speech:
“The State of the Union is that it is a mess. This is largely due to the Congress you fools keep re-electing. I can’t fix it; you’ll have to fix it. Since I can’t fix it, I see no point in wasting an hour talking about it. Thank you and goodnight.”
Donut
@different-church-lady:
Blog commenters writing about writers writing about writers is pretty dull. So far.
sharl
@Howard Beale IV: Yes, Pareene was with Wonkette back when it was still part of Nick Denton’s Gawker empire, and after a year or so he jumped to the Gawker mother ship, well before Wonkette was spun off as a stand-alone entity.
@RSA: I’ve been absurdly curious about the movements of a lot of these online reporters, Pareene included. His fans on Twitter were bugging him about where he was going to go after the venture with Taibbi over at Pierre Omidyar’s operation went belly-up (Pareene was going to be Taibbi’s deputy editor at the blog “Racket” that never happened).
I don’t know that it’s terribly relevant, but my impression is that a lot of reporters and writers who work under editor John Cook hold him in high regard, and when Cook went back to Gawker, he may have invited Pareene to return. Cook basically flamed (indirectly) Omidyar’s management team by publicly saying that the failure of Taibbi and his Racket project was entirely avoidable, and not the fault of Taibbi (as I recall). That kind of told me that Cook wouldn’t be staying there very long, and he didn’t. And I’m guessing that coming out publicly in Taibbi’s corner served to further solidify Cook’s reputation with writers like Pareene. FWIW, Cook wasn’t editor back when Pareene originally worked at Gawker, but may have been a fellow writer at the time (don’t know what Cook’s original tenure over there was).
JPL
@Buddy H: Several years later, a son mentioned the time I was really nice to dad. The ex still uses the techniques that I taught him although, hell if I can remember what I told him.
Turgidson
@Corner Stone:
Comes off douchey and resentful to me, but that’s just like, my opinion, man.
and like I said, I knew Cody as a kid. He was funnier then than Pareene is now. oooh burn.
lamh36
If John Lewis and and POTUS actually walk across the Pettis Bridge, wingnut heads will explode!
Cervantes
@sharl:
At Gawker, Cook was Investigations Editor and then Editor-in-Chief.
JPL
So is this the thread where we can complain about Obama not giving us ponies? Geez.. even Cole gave us puppies and he’s not the President.
mdblanche
@jl:
If “I told you so” is really an effective campaign slogan, in two years time we’ll be watching Mitt Romney’s inauguration (spoiler: it isn’t).
Elizabelle
SOTU thread up.
Corner Stone
@Turgidson: Seems like you’re just about as douchey as Co-Keen is.
Renie
@Violet: On our DVR the options also are set up to delete after a certain number of days. Maybe that setting was on, something like delete after 7 days, and so those particular shows all got deleted. Did they all air the same date – might give a clue.
Sherparick
If you are still being read 50 and your books (and e-books) are selling 50 years after your death, can you still be overrated? (If the standard that Hemingway was the best American Novelist, yes, definitely that is an overate, but one of the best and Hemingway does prevent a window to a lot of the darkness in the American white male of the 20th century. (Perhaps this is an overrate for some but I put Twain, Melville, Edith Wharton, Faulkner, Fitzgerald as the top five, then Hemingway, Henry James (in my opinion the American novelist most overrated – the movies were all better than the books), James Baldwin, Richard Wright, Ralph Ellison, Angelou, Hawthorne, Updike, Oates (still living, but does anyone still read her early books?), Dreiser, Mailer, Cather next. And yes, I know the list is to white and to male.