Patterico's Pontifications

3/1/2011

Noted Partisan Hack Leaves New York Times

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 6:28 pm



There are far too many possibilities, aren’t there?

Say goodbye to Frank Rich.

67 Responses to “Noted Partisan Hack Leaves New York Times”

  1. A sign that the ship is sinking?

    malclave (1db6c5)

  2. Who will fill the void?

    TimesDisliker (00fcf6)

  3. He wil be joining algore and Olbergasm.

    JD (d4bbf1)

  4. Ah – they didn’t disappoint. One more run of that creepy, creepy photo. Good times.

    no one you know (e7daa1)

  5. Times

    Rich WAS a void.

    Aaron Worthing (73a7ea)

  6. Rich WAS a void.

    Correction Aaron: Not just a void. Rich is a black hole. Ever see how massively fat he is? Not even Maureen Dowd could escape his gravitational pull. 😉

    qdpsteve (f1c59f)

  7. Going from a national newspaper to a regional magazine says a lot about Rich, the New York Times and New York magazine. And no matter how you add it up, it says nothing good about the whole sorry lot.

    Ag80 (efea1d)

  8. There are far too many possibilities, aren’t there?

    Aww, c’mon. The challenge isn’t naming someone who qualifies.

    It’s naming someone who doesn’t.

    Go on, I dare ya.

    IgotBupkis, President, United Anarchist Society (c9dcd8)

  9. But . . . but, how can we possibly make our own way in a world bereft of such deep, thoughtful insights, like when he wrote that Obama’s speech on race was the besterest of its kind — evah?

    Icy Texan (2987c7)

  10. Correction Aaron: Not just a void. Rich is a black hole. Ever see how massively fat he is? Not even Maureen Dowd could escape his gravitational pull. 😉

    Hey!

    Hey!

    Is that some snide insinuation that Frank Rich Sucks?

    Smock Puppet (c9dcd8)

  11. Can you hear the music? It’s almost like musical chairs are being played throughout the journosphere.

    elissa (447ac7)

  12. On the other hand, in the category of “unintentional truth”:

    “…Rich joined the Times in 1980 and served as chief drama critic until 1993…”

    Some would say that he remained an expert in drama throughout.

    Simon Jester (c8876d)

  13. Eerie parallel with the departure of the chief drama queen from the Atlantic.

    Icy Texan (2987c7)

  14. Rich was actually a decent drama critic at the Times, but that was long, long ago – what a waste of space he became after his new beat.

    Dmac (b9fd74)

  15. Paul Krugman has been outshining Frank Rich as the drama queen of the Times in recent years in the eyes of some.

    daleyrocks (ae76ce)

  16. I’m worried that he’s not REALY leaving, he will still be published at the NYT in his usual incoherent ramblings

    They just wont be paying him anymore…

    I guess even the “Times” recognized the value of his contributions

    EricPWJohnson (06f365)

  17. Well shucks; there goes another reason not to read the New York Times. As a political op ed writer, Frank Rich made a mediocre drama critic–at best.

    Mike Myers (0e06a9)

  18. Rich, has gone beyond parody, moving to NY Magazine,
    is certainly getting ‘a more selective readership’ he can fill the Michael Wolf slot, since he left for Vanity Fair, and Newser.

    narciso (bf58f6)

  19. Old Slogan: “The New York Times– All the news that’s fit to print.”

    New Slogan: “The New York Times– Coming soon to a birdcage near you!”

    qdpsteve (f1c59f)

  20. Partisan hack?

    He wrotw an opinion column that’s partisan by definition.
    But you know that even if your readers don’t.

    teacher (d06126)

  21. NY Times Watch website has priceless observations on drama queen Frank Rich’s desperate attempts to appear relevant over the years.

    Connecting Bush and the Balloon Boy saga
    Next to the other hoaxes and fantasies that have been abetted by the news media in recent years, both the “balloon boy” and Chamber of Commerce ruses are benign. The Colorado balloon may have led to the rerouting of flights and the wasteful deployment of law enforcement resources. But at least it didn’t lead the country into fiasco the way George W. Bush’s flyboy spectacle on an aircraft carrier helped beguile most of the Beltway press and too much of the public into believing that the mission had been accomplished in Iraq.

    Explaining the GOP’s *real* rageThere’s nothing entertaining about watching goons hurl venomous slurs at congressmen like the civil rights hero John Lewis and the openly gay Barney Frank. And as the week dragged on, and reports of death threats and vandalism stretched from Arizona to Kansas to upstate New York, the F.B.I. and the local police had to get into the act to protect members of Congress and their families.

    How curious that a mob fond of likening President Obama to Hitler knows so little about history that it doesn’t recognize its own small-scale mimicry of Kristallnacht. The weapon of choice for vigilante violence at Congressional offices has been a brick hurled through a window. So far.

    Good times.

    Dana (9f3823)

  22. ___________________________________

    New Slogan: “The New York Times– Coming soon to a birdcage near you!”

    I recall Alec Baldwin (ie, liberal actor) making the observation not too long ago that unlike in past years (certainly the pre-Internet era), he now noticed that stacks of the NY Times will sit for hours unsold at newsracks in Manhattan.

    As for that paper’s op-ed page, at least there was a bit less imbalance when William Safire was doing his column. But in 2011 the NYT pretty much sticks to its uber-leftwing comfort zone, without a care in the world.

    Mark (411533)

  23. A Rich of Embarrassments.

    Milhouse (ea66e3)

  24. “teacher”s track record of douchebaggery remains intact.

    JD (d4bbf1)

  25. Teacher:

    I’m sorry, but your point seems to be that ridiculing Rich is moot because ridiculing him is obvious. That’s an interesting argument in the sense it’s, well, not much of an argument.

    Ag80 (efea1d)

  26. Teacher–not to pile on– but opinion columns can be insightful, edifying, and thought-provoking even if one does not agree with them. The excellent ones can even be life changing in their clarity. Mr. Rich’s columns are nasty, poorly written and filled with faulty logic. That is why we are mocking him.

    elissa (447ac7)

  27. Maybe they will fill the seat with Perez Hilton or Lady GaGa? They would have about as much insight as Franky.

    BT (74cbec)

  28. elissa at 26 – To be fair according to your analysis Rich’s writing shares many characteristics of teacher’s writing. Which is probably why we are mocking him.

    Have Blue (854a6e)

  29. Now Frank will have tons of time to troll Chelsea for boy toys.

    Torquemada (2a42d3)

  30. Have Blue @28 you make a very valid point. The old “it takes one to know one” thing.

    elissa (447ac7)

  31. Did ‘teacher’ get stuck at “partisan” and not read the next word — “hack”?

    Icy Texan (b4bda0)

  32. when William Safire was doing his column.

    Safire was pretty much meh, but hiring David “I like the crease of his pants” Brooks was patently ridiculous. A bigger wuss of a columnist I’ve never seen.

    Dmac (b9fd74)

  33. There’s one bit about Frank Rich that has gotten less attention than it deserves: The man is unable (or unwilling) to write clearly.

    At one time, I was doing regular critiques of his columns, but I gave it up because I always ended up adding a sort of “appendix” correcting some of his worst writing errors. He is especially bad with metaphors, mangling them more often than not.

    He is so bad that for a while I began to speculate that he was writing badly on purpose, for some perverse reason.

    But what disturbs me most about his terrible writing is that his journalism peers either did not notice how bad it is, or protected him by not mentioning it.

    I have become accustomed to innumeracy, bias, and laziness from our “mainstream” journalists, but I still can’t understand why so many of them — including Frank Rich — can’t or won’t write clearly.

    (I’m planning to do a post in the next day or two with some examples of his writing mistakes.)

    Jim Miller (d77521)

  34. Are there any lefty writers you guys like or at least respect? Anyone on the right you have problems with? Just curious. If not, then it seems you are all caught up in dogma and not at all interested in having lefties join in with your discussions.

    Prepostericity (0c119d)

  35. I think many people are caught up in dogma, on both sides. As for me, I have a hard time finding lefty writers I respect; the ones I do would probably be rejected by lefties as not lefty enough.

    Maybe a good question would be to ask you which ones you respect.

    Patterico (c218bd)

  36. “Are there any lefty writers you guys like or at least respect?”

    No.

    Dave Surls (3fc11b)

  37. I like Mickey Kaus’ work most of the time.

    elissa (f5fa7c)

  38. there are a kajillion wonderful lefty writers … leftists often write beautifully and tell tales of deep humanity and great feeling, however improbable

    have you tried Mr. Cleave he writes like brilliance and melancholy but he’s a godawful dirty socialist obamawhore

    but what’re you gonna do

    happyfeet (ab5779)

  39. Hitchens is good most of the time, outside of that, it’s hard to think of one,

    narciso (bf58f6)

  40. that link is useless I don’t know why

    here is the link for his writings what he has written

    happyfeet (ab5779)

  41. Lefties don’t like Kaus or Hitchens.

    Patterico (c218bd)

  42. That’s a good point Patterico. I used to like Huffington from the right. But now that she is aligned with the left, I doubt your side would take that as a good example.

    I haven’t followed political chatter that much in the last years. I could offer some names but admittedly am speaking from ignorance. Is Andrew Sullivan a righty? I kind of recall him as being tolerable even when I disagreed with him. Joe Scarborough, I recall he seemed level-headed for a righty. I’m not sure of Geraldo or Van Susteren for political affiliation, but they seemed ok to hear out in regards to Fox News. I’m not saying I would ever vote for Scott Brown, but I have to admit for a righty he got voted in for a lefty state by somewhat seeking a middle ground. That win might have been more of a default, as in Coakley lost it more than he won. Of course he’s not a journalist. I’m sorry I don’t have much more to offer than what I just did.

    You certainly make an excellent point. A lot of people from the right have termed Obama as being a lefty but from my viewpoint he’s right down the middle. He’s left of center on some issues and right of center on others. A lot of this is existential in regards to where each of us are coming from as individuals.

    Prepostericity (0c119d)

  43. Prepostericity,

    I like to read Texas Monthly and most of its reporters and editors are Austin liberals. Of course, I only read them in small doses because we older folks have to watch our blood pressure.

    As for the right, the only writers I almost always agree with are Mark Steyn and Thomas Sowell … and I rarely agree with David Brooks and David Frum. The rest fall somewhere in between, and I only agree with those who make a very convincing argument.

    DRJ (fdd243)

  44. We used to love Hitchens. I found it intriguing how he and Huffington switched teams in midstream. I think Huffington did it out of a marketing strategy. She saw which way the wind was blowing. Hitchens, though I didn’t like how he did the 180, seemed to have had more of a sincere shift in ideology.

    Prepostericity (0c119d)

  45. Prepostericity:

    You misunderstood me. I didn’t want you to name the usual non-conservative “conservatives” that all conservatives hate but lefties love, any more than you really care for us to name a bunch of “lefty” writers whom we love but all the lefties hate.

    I want to know which lefty writers you like.

    Patterico (c218bd)

  46. See, because I respect you as a lefty, I’d be halfway inclined to try to read the lefties you like.

    Patterico (c218bd)

  47. I would bet that a lot more right leaning and libertarian people take the time to read Lefty columns regularly, than liberals deign to read righty columnists. Personally, I find it useful both in politics and in life to keep up with the leftist mind and narrative. I truly believe that in general conservatives “understand” liberals better that liberals “understand” conservatives and what makes them tick.

    elissa (f5fa7c)

  48. Sorry I don’t know this Chris Cleave dude. I skimmed through that article and I could do without what appears at first glance as sanctimonious drivel. I used to like listening to that guy McLaughlin. He had quite the pipes. I actually enjoyed Bill O’Reilly when he first hit it big. But like a Dave letterman, these people tend to become caricatures of themselves, like a jumping the shark kind of thing. As for the Texas Monthly or much more on this subject, I again admit I’m fairly useless.

    Prepostericity (0c119d)

  49. yes Mr. Prepostericity his columns are an example of his rancid socialist obamawhore ideology peaking through quite blatantly, but his novels shimmer and fascinate

    happyfeet (ab5779)

  50. Ok, I’ll list some names. Howard Zinn, Herbert Marcuse, Erich Fromm, Alice Miller, Molly Ivans. Uhm, I liked that magazine The Progressive. There was this incredible actor named John Garfield. He kind of took a beating from the HUAC. I liked the way he put it: I was a sucker for a left hook. I am an old school lefty. One thing a Professor once said which I have learned to respect as an idea that there needs to be a healthy blend of a free market with a planned economy. I never went anywhere near communism. Who would seeing what Stalin and Mao did?

    I guess I feel some respect for Dwight Eisenhower who spoke up about the danger of an unchecked military-industrial complex.

    Prepostericity (0c119d)

  51. I also like safety nets, equal schools, military reductions, and a job for anyone willing to work. There’s nothing worse than hearing the economy is recovering but not job losses. That just sounds like the rich are getting richer and the poor poorer.

    Prepostericity (0c119d)

  52. I have heard most of those names but have read few. I have actually found some value in the much hated Zinn because he talks about aspects of American history you don’t hear much about from the conservatives.

    I tend to like the conservatives who used to be liberals, at least to some extent, because I feel as though they have more open minds. There are plenty of people who have never entertained any sort of liberal thought in their lives and often you can tell who they are. They will sort of mouth things about racism and injustice but you don’t sense it has ever really hit home.

    Patterico (96c7b5)

  53. Pretty sure the poor aren’t getting poorer. They mostly have cable TV and microwaves.

    Patterico (96c7b5)

  54. I want a job for everyone willing to work. Eliminate welfare and the minimum wage and slash taxes and deport all illegals and see what happens.

    We share a lot of goals but differ on how to get there.

    Patterico (96c7b5)

  55. Of those I would say, Fromm was the real iconoclast, we don’t get many of those anymore.

    narciso (bf58f6)

  56. Happyfeet cracks me up.

    I read Kos and HuffPo and MediaMatters and ThinkRegress every day. They all suck.

    JD (306f5d)

  57. Of course, Molly Ivins is dead now but she was lots of fun to read because she wrote about Texas, which is what she did until George W. Bush became President and the focus of her ire. Which side of Ivins did you like, Prepostericity, the Texas lover or the Bush hater?

    DRJ (fdd243)

  58. Our poor seem to be doing pretty well compared to what I’ve seen

    EricPWJohnson (569da1)

  59. JD

    Why? Who wants that pain, had Rachel on yesterday morning and ODOnnell – they sem to be running back to the Bush I playbook – the poor children

    EricPWJohnson (569da1)

  60. “Are there any lefty writers you guys like or at least respect?”

    The lying or intellectual dishonesty that inevitably creeps into the writing turns me off. Small doses, as DRJ indicates, are advised. Plus, I already live in a Peoples’ Republic.

    daleyrocks (ae76ce)

  61. And that is bad how you pompous communist?

    DohBiden (984d23)

  62. that was directed at the pompous communist who asked us if there were leftys we liked

    DohBiden (984d23)

  63. It’s always nice to see an intellectual stop by to say how smart it is. It is something akin to a breath of fresh air while strolling next to the abattoir.

    Ag80 (efea1d)

  64. It is not a pompous communist, DohBiden, it is a lefty who has fought for truth, and who has taken on Brett Kimberlin.

    You guys really need to watch those jerking knees sometimes. You miss out on a lot.

    Patterico (c218bd)

  65. Thanks Patterico, but I’m ok with it. What those guys don’t realise is that they are disrespecting yourself. A while back you offered the idea that it’d be nice to have more diversity on your blog.

    Another problem with their attitude is that they’re actually making the lefty side look better. I’m not saying they are plants or trolls, but there are certain posters who get accused of being concern trolls. That is, they wish to appear on one side of a debate while in fact they are faking so as to discredit it.

    I mean, argue against Obama’s policies as an adult without calling him a whore. Don’t call people communists who you don’t know. That was what was so wrong about the HUAC. They targeted people based on their own biases and paranoia.

    I recently got into old movies. It’s a good diversion. I just watched a Judy Holliday flick. She was the original Marylin Monroe. When she was being interviewed by the McCarthy people, she put on her dumb blonde routine and they let her off the hook. It turns out she had an iq of 172. Maybe they went after her because she used to go with one of Charlie Chaplin’s sons.

    I agre that we all mostly have the same values but just differ in how we feel are the best routes to get there.

    I see your point on getting rid of illegal immigrants. I wouldn’t go that far. It would probably be best to go with a case by case evaluation. There may be some merit to getting rid of the minimum wage, as most employers realise they are going to get what they pay for. A big problem seems to be excessive outsourcing of jobs. Why should companies be allowed to hire non-Americans at cheaper wages while unemployment continues to rise?

    I never bought into the invisible hand theory. Unfortunately greed is a human trait for many. Some regulation may be necessary to protect American citizens.

    I respect that you get what Howard Zinn was trying to do. We all have been force fed American History from the boring traditional aspect of Presidents, countries, incredible amounts of alienating rote. The book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was all about how we have lost our gumption. There are always experts. I get the way many folks are tired of academics, talking heads, journalists, politicians, et al. They either control the information as a commodity or are the Pink Floydian Bricks in the Wall.

    There was a cat named Paulo Freire out of Brazil. He had a theory for teaching literacy. He said it goes beyond folks learning how to read. It’s about giving people the tools to become active subjects rather than listener objects.

    Alice Miller speaks of poisonous pedagogy. Erich Fromm spoke of there being a fear of freedom. Max Weber is considered the greatest sociologist of all time. He combined Marx’s materialism with Durkheim’s culturalism. In The Protestant Work Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism he said good American values of hard work and frugality fueled the economy. But that when the initial intent was lost, we ended up in an iron cage.

    I’m not trying to be a showoff. I’m actually flattered that someone called me an intellectual. The truth is I’m just another nobody who dreams of becoming a somebody. I don’t know who said it, but it makes sense that we might not agree with someone but we should fight for their right to say it. Of course we can’t shout fire in a crowded building, and no one should have to put up with hate speech or verbal abuse.

    You’re spot on in saying we should listen to each other or are running the risk of missing out on some good times. There was that actor Robert Taylor. I used to think he was bad news because of his politics. But then I saw a movie he did where he fought for the dignity of Native Americans. Sorry I forget the name of the flick.

    As for someone asking about Molly Ivans, I do think she was entertaining. Some of that polarisation can be a big time drag. I never got what was up with Carville against Matlin. I could have done without either of them. I did enjoy seeing Geraldo and Bill O’Reilly go at it once. The video should still be at youtube. From memory, an illegal immigrant was involved in a fatal car accident. Bill and Geraldo were yelling at each other. Bill was like it never should have happened. Geraldo was like it had nothing to do with where the people came from. It was a bad situation but a conflation of two topics, drunk driving with immigration issues.

    Blogging can be fun even when we disagree. I think there just needs to be at least a smidgen of basic respect. I got into that Bush hating nonsense from last decade’s blogosphere. But after a while I started to tune it out. Sure I didn’t like George Bush. Dick Cheney, don’t get me started. It was fun to see Ivins and GW go toe to toe like with O’Reilly and Geraldo. But at some point, at least I hope so, people crave much more than that and want some meat on the bones of discussion. Like for the guys saying I am a communist or whatever, I’m feeling like saying lighten up Francis, the adults are trying to have a discussion.

    Bill Cosby could be funny without using curse words. Maybe blogs can be interesting without going the jerry Springer route for political discussion. (Sometimes I don’t proofread and just hit submit comment. This is one of those times. P:>)

    Prepostericity (0c119d)

  66. Oopsies, always best to proofread. It was fun to see Ann Richards go toe to toe with GW. And I definitely believe in a minimum wage. Every job should provide a basic level of existence or it is economic slavery. I remember making $3.45/hr as a teenager. I did some damn good feisty work. I ended up quitting because I realised I was being used. Though the company I worked for lost out on a good worker because they wouldn’t cough up an extra quarter or fifty cents, so I can probably intuit what the opposite side of this debate would say. So there should be no minimum wage at all? That could lead to us becoming a third world country with folks being forced to take jobs paying let’s say five dollars and hour. I don’t know what the current minimum wage is here in massachusetts, but I doubt it is enough to get one over the poverty level. I’m not sure. 5 times 40 hours or say 60 is $300 per week. That would barely cover rent and expenses. It’d be tough for one to get by on that. Then throw in whether the person has a family. I heard diapers are expensive. I mean, you guys can talk all you want of a trickle down theory. But then you’d be forgetting what the great philosopher Homer Simpson pointed out when he said, “Communism in theory…” Just substitute capitalism for communism. Yikes, it’s almost 5 am. Thanks for the conversation everyone.

    Prepostericity (0c119d)

  67. #5 Times
    Rich WAS a void.
    Comment by Aaron Worthing — 3/1/2011 @ 6:58 pm

    Aaron, I know what kind of “void” you meant, that was very funny.

    TimesDisliker (cf3587)


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