Newsweek Pretty Much Just Phoning It In Now
Back in June, Kyle Smith of the New York Post caught Newsweek — we assume inadvertently — stealing a meme from a 1979-edition of rival Time magazine:
This week, the otherwise Obama-friendly Buzzfeed catches the magazine stealing from themselves:
In 1987, we were asked by Newsweek to believe that a World War II Navy fighter pilot and former CIA head was too much of a “wimp” to be president. Today, the W-word seems very much at odds with the image that Obama had been attempting to paint of Romney as a Gordon Gekko-esque corporate raider. Additionally, the subtext of the article asks, “Is he just too insecure to be president?”
Funny, that wasn’t a question that Newsweek asked itself in 2008 of the man who was omnipresent on their covers, when its then-editors weren’t comparing Obama with Lincoln — and ultimately God — with all-too-”unexpectedly” disastrous results, as Edward Klein wrote in The Amateur. (I’m doing some recycling of my own; these excerpts originally appeared here back in June):
Shortly after Obama entered the White House, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner warned him, “Your legacy is going to be preventing the second Great Depression.” To which Obama boasted, “That’s not enough for me.”
* * * * * * * *
On the evening of Tuesday, June 30, 2009, Barack Obama invited nine like-minded liberal historians to have dinner with him in the Family Quarters of the White House. His chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, personally delivered the invitations to each historian with a word of caution: the dinner was to remain private and off the record….At the time of this dinner, Barack Obama was still enjoying a honeymoon period with the American people. According to the most recent Gallup Poll, 63 percent of Americans approved of the job he was doing. Not surprisingly, he was in an expansive mood as he tucked into his lamb chops and went around the table questioning each historian by name—Doris Kearns Goodwin, Michael Beschloss, Robert Caro, Robert Dallek, David [sic--Ed] Brinkley, H. W. Brands, David Kennedy, Kenneth Mack, and Gary Wills.
* * * * * * * *
Tonight, in front of nine prominent American historians, Obama wasn’t shy about flaunting his famous self-confidence. He intended to bring the Israelis and Palestinians to the negotiating table and create a permanent peace in the Middle East. He would open a constructive dialogue with America’s enemies in Iran and North Korea and, through his powers of persuasion, help them see the error of their ways. He’d pass legislation in Washington to revolutionize the country’s healthcare system and energy policy. And he’d inject the regulatory hand of the federal government into the American economy in an effort to create “a more just and equitable society.” When several of the historians brought up the difficulties that Lyndon Johnson had faced trying to wage a foreign war while implementing an ambitious domestic agenda, Obama grew testy. He knew better. He could prevail by the force of his personality. He could solve the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, put millions of people back to work, redistribute wealth, withdraw from Iraq, and reconcile the United States to a less dominant role in the world.
It was, by any measure, a breathtaking display of narcissistic grandiosity from a man whose entire political curriculum vitae consisted of seven undistinguished years in the Illinois Senate, two mostly absent years in the United States Senate, and five months and ten days in the White House. Unintentionally, Obama revealed the characteristics that made him totally unsuited for the presidency and that would doom him to failure: his extreme haughtiness and excessive pride; his ideological bent as a far-left corporatist; and his astounding amateurism.
That’s some Hindenburg-sized ego on display. But hey, it’s working. Just ask the man himself:
At the Tatler, Rick Moran has his own thoughts on Newsweek’s hit piece and writes, “I thought these desperation tactics would have waited until later in the campaign.” But at this rate, the print edition of Newsweek might not be around that long.
Update: Welcome Instapundit, Tatler and Facebook readers. And Mickey Kaus tweets:
As Tony Roberts replied to Woody Allen in Stardust Memories (the film that cost Woody his audience shortly after the 1979 Time cover appeared), “A homage? Not exactly; we just stole the idea outright.”
More: Related thoughts on Newsweek’s inglorious final days as a print publication from Donald Douglas.
If your quote from Edward Klein’s book is accurate, in the second paragraph you cite, he probably means DOUGLAS Brinkley. By 2009, NBC/ABC broadcast newsman DAVID Brinkley (who never purported to be an historian) had already been dead for six years, so if he was there, he probably didn’t have much to say. (His presence would certainly have been newsworthy, though.) It’s this kind of sloppy, poorly-checked crap that liberals can use to discredit everything else Klein has to say. Conservatives use it to discredit liberals. You’d think folks on the conservative side would be more diligent.
Oy — good catch; I added a [sic] above. I just checked my Kindle edition of his book (I thought I might have screwed it up when I cut and pasted that section into my blog post last month) and Klein does indeed call him David. When that section was reprinted here, Klein or his editor got the name right.
I read Klein’s book, and there were a bunch of things like that–little, really inconsequential errors, but enough to make you wonder why they couldn’t get it proofread and fact-checked, and enough to make you think, if they got all these little thing wrong, can I trust this on the bigger things?
“Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job.”
Is that the best response you can make? “Brownie” wasn’t responsible for the actions before, during, and following Hurricane Katrina. The Governors and Mayors of the states and municipalities affected were. Get over it!
“Brownie” wasn’t responsible for the actions before, during, and following Hurricane Katrina. The Governors and Mayors of the states and municipalities affected were.
That “Brownie” headed the Federal Emergency Management Agency aka FEMA.
Is that the best response you can make?
People who live in glass houses…
And ‘Brownie’s” FEMA was expected to get into action in 96 hours; they, despite the best efforts of local Democrat politicians to forestall them in favour of cash contributions, were arriving in place at the 72 hour mark. That was a substantial part of the ‘heck of a job’.
But if you understood this, you’d be a normal person, free of your current progressive slag.
Cheers
And ‘Brownie’s” FEMA was expected to get into action in 96 hours; they, despite the best efforts of local Democrat politicians to forestall them in favour of cash contributions, were arriving in place at the 72 hour mark. That was a substantial part of the ‘heck of a job’.
If asked to choose between FEMA and Louisiana Democrats, I’d vote ‘Present’.
But if you understood this, you’d be a normal person, free of your current progressive slag.
Another memorable quotation from the Katrina period is “Don’t get stuck on stupid.”
That’s the way to beat Romney: Obama needs to keep running against Chimpy W. McBushitler!
While you’re dredging up Katrina, how about going on about the fake but accurate documents proving the Bush went AWOL? Or how Bush lied and the Bush administration orchestrated 9/11? That’s the sane, civil leftism that resonated so well with the American people, after all.
The quotation is an analogy regarding Tina Brown’s record at Newsweek and Daily Beast.
You built your straw man in the wrong barn.
The voters of Louisiana — those most affected by Katrina — did end up deciding that the blame for the post-hurricane fiasco rested mainly on the shoulders of then-governor Kathleen Blanco, in part because she refused at the outset to declare a State of Emergency that would have allowed federal troops and other assistance to enter the area when it could have made a difference. It’s why Bobby Jindal is now one of Mitt Romney’s possible VP selections.
1. True, but IMHO both Blanco and Brown deserved to be forced out of their jobs.
The “heckuva job” quote has become notorious because the President of the United States conspicuously said it.
2. I had no idea that (what I considered to be) an obvious joke at Tina Brown’s expense would trigger such a kerfluffle. I am no longer available as a counterparty for somebody who wants to keep arguing about Katrina.
Thanks; not quite so obscure now, ‘Brown’ being such an unusual name and all …
Liberals are big on recycling!
This will be devastating to Romney. Those leftwing progressives that were thinking about voting for Obama less enthusiastically this time will have a harder time of it now. Or will they have an easier time of it now? I’m confused! Maybe Dukakis can set me straight by firing a 120mm armor piercing round into me.
Ironically enough, the picture Newsweek used for its Romney == Wimp? issue shows him brimming over with confidence.
For the Bush photo, at least, they managed to pick one where he doesn’t look happy.
Amazing. We have a president who looks like a little boy, throws a baseball like a little girl (apologies to all the little girls who can actually throw), bowls like wuss, and hits a golf ball like a pansy. And Newsweek thinks Romney is a wimp?
The mincing baseball pitch was what immediately came to mind:
http://voices.yahoo.com/does-obama-throw-like-girl-3810644.html
Actually, I love the photo of Obama on his bicycle. But then I’m a wimp, too. Sarah Palin, with her motorcycle, was just too… powerful… for me.
Terrific juxtaposition — Woody Allen as a comedic genius and Obama as a great leader.
Both neither in my book.
GHWB a wimp? In which universe? Turns out it’s the quiet ones you have to watch out for – the Audie Murphy-s of the world who have learned the hard way that, yes, there are hard things that are better dealt with today than left for tomorrow.
In 1987, we were asked by Newsweek to believe that a World War II Navy torpedo bomber pilot and former CIA head was too much of a “wimp” to be president.
FTFY.
As the saying goes:
“Fighter pilots make movies. Attack pilots make history.”
Edward Klein, author of The Kennedy Curse? He’s a complete hack!