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Hornswaggle is an alternate spelling of hornswoggle, an archaic word that means to bamboozle or hoodwink. I take my pronunciation from the late Harvey Korman in "Blazing Saddles" -- "I want rustlers, cutthroats, murderers, bounty hunters, desperados, mugs, pugs, thugs, nitwits, halfwits, dimwits, vipers, snipers, conmen, Indian agents, Mexican bandits, muggers, buggerers, bushwhackers, hornswagglers, horse thieves, bull dykes, train robbers, bank robbers, ass kickers, shit kickers and Methodists!" |
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Tuesday, March 24, 2009Not the pinnacle of journalismRon Fournier of the AP turned out a real piece of garbage on Obama's press conference tonight, focusing on the Matt Drudge-approved memes of Obama's alleged over-reliance on the teleprompter and his "cool" approach in the face of supposed populist anger over the AIG bonuses -- anger that may actually exist outside Capitol HIll and the imaginations of reporters, but which I haven't actually seen at all firsthand -- and he predictably got himself featured as the lead item on the Drudge Report. "What kind of politician brings a teleprompter to a news conference?" Fournier begins. "A careful one." Uh, Ron? How about every fucking politician on the face of the planet? This teleprompter BS is driving me nuts. George W. Bush read prepared statements at the beginning of all his press conferences too. It's what presidents traditionally do. It's what any person in his right mind would do. Would memorizing policy addresses really be the best use of Barack Obama's time right now? Fournier returns to the teleprompter issue several times, including the big scoop that Obama wasn't using a regular small teleprompter but a big old special teleprompter. And towards the bottom of the article, after having spent several paragraphs implying there was something wrong with Obama's "cerebral" and "careful" tone, Fournier writes, "Still, it's hard to criticize Obama's communication skills or tactics. Polls show that while the public has turned against Washington and Wall Street, the president's ratings remain steady." So that's why he spent all that time criticizing Obama's communication skills and tactics -- because it's hard to do. Ron Fournier wanted a challenge. Here's some background on some of Fournier's recent dubious achievements. UPDATE: Jim Newell of Wonkette has much the same reaction. .: posted by hornswaggler 9:52 PM| |
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