Maureen Dowd's Sunday column for the New York Times, datelined "The Final Frontier," beat to death the already tiresome conceit of comparing Barack Obama to the coolly rational Spock from Star Trek. In Dowd's version, Obama is going to beam down and save newspapers or something. The column is titled "Put Aside Logic," and it does.
The text box is even lamer: "Can we Kling On to our newspapers in the galactic age?" Some headline writer must have thought the play on words was clever enough to be worth the corniness. It wasn't.
Dowd did provide a few decent Obama tidbits amidst the silly premise: Not only is the Times the president's favorite paper (he gets "cranky" without it), he sold subscriptions briefly while attending Columbia University.
I dreamed that Spock saved our planet, The Daily Planet of journalism.
Instead of swooping in to figure out the dimensionality and logarithms to rescue the world from red matter, as Spock does in J. J. Abrams's dazzling new "Star Trek," I imagined Spock rescuing read matter for the world.
Newspapers are an "endangered species," as John Kerry called us in a Senate hearing last week, just as the Vulcans are in the new prequel.
I know Barack Spock likes newspapers. An aide told me during the campaign that Mr. Obama would get cranky if he didn't have some time set aside during the day to read The New York Times....Once, during his campaign trip to Europe, Mr. Obama told me that he had briefly sold subscriptions to The New York Times when he was at Columbia University to help pay for school, but confessed he wasn't very good at it.
—Clay Waters is the director of Times Watch, an MRC project tracking the New York Times.
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Save The News Media
May 11, 2009 - 16:04 ET by JDWObama wants to tax insurance and inheritance, where will the news media funds come from?
JDW
DAILY WAVE
When people fear their government there is tyranny.
When government fears the people there is liberty.
Product Placement
May 11, 2009 - 16:07 ET by katainkentThey love their MSNBC and their NYT.
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Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past - George Orwell - 1984
Oh no MoDo we don't want O
May 11, 2009 - 16:07 ET by bigtimerOh no MoDo we don't want O cranky ...now do we?
Whatever will we do...
Seems he has learned to be an excellent salesman MoDo, you in the press/msm all fell for it.
Fools all.
Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea. ~Andrew Breitbart
this is why newspapers are failing
May 11, 2009 - 16:22 ET by UndercoverConservativethis single article, so eloquently sums up the failure of newsprint, and even the entire Mainstream that is Reuters and AP.
Never has so much vapidity and biased propaganda been so disgustingly distilled into a single container. P.U.!
WWW.GS2AC.COM. 2nd Amendment Grass Roots Action in the Bay Area, CA. We're not all "Breakfast Cereal" folks here! :)
Never fear - John Forbes Kerry is working his little heart out
May 11, 2009 - 17:38 ET by Cape Conservativeto save his favorite NYT newspaper, the Boston Globe.
He now has until January 1 to come up with the right bill to send some stimulus money their way. What would he ever do without their constant 'positive, in fact, glowing' accounts of what a wonderful senator we are so fortunate to have represent us!!!!! NOT!!!!!
This comment comes from a proud Tea Party attendee, otherwise known as a RWRE!! It is no dishonor to be in a minority in the cause of liberty and virtue ~ Sam Adams
There must be something wrong with me...
May 11, 2009 - 16:37 ET by JTPI get cranky WHEN I read it.
"Live for yourself...there's no one else more worth living for.
Begging hands and bleeding hearts will only cry out for more"- Rush--Anthem
JTP... That's the biggest
May 11, 2009 - 16:42 ET by bigtimerJTP...
That's the biggest reason not to.
...and they wonder why they are failing...
Never admitting bias being the problem...none of the failures are admitting this...we all know why.
Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea. ~Andrew Breitbart
I'll bet "O" gets "cranky" without...
May 11, 2009 - 16:40 ET by PrairieSkyhis daily dose of adoration from the NYT...Obamessiah just has to have his Obama-love from the "Newspaper of Record"...
"The problem is not that people are taxed too little...the problem is that government spends too much." ~President Ronald Reagan
Sky... Exactly! If he
May 11, 2009 - 16:43 ET by bigtimerSky...
Exactly!
If he doesn't grace the pages, he isn't a happy Dear Leader.
Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea. ~Andrew Breitbart
Howdy bt...I'm sure "O" just gets...
May 11, 2009 - 16:58 ET by PrairieSkythe "shakes" if he isn't on the front page each and every day!! LOL!
"The problem is not that people are taxed too little...the problem is that government spends too much." ~President Ronald Reagan
LOL Sky... Oh yeah...his
May 11, 2009 - 17:00 ET by bigtimerLOL Sky...
Oh yeah...his addiction problem is far worse the BJ Clinton's ever thought of being when it comes to narcissism.
He's got him beat hands down.
Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea. ~Andrew Breitbart
bt...I agree!...
May 11, 2009 - 17:09 ET by PrairieSkyI never thought anyone could be worse than 'ol Bubba, but Obama has proved me wrong...
"The problem is not that people are taxed too little...the problem is that government spends too much." ~President Ronald Reagan
Prairiesky - and it MUST be ABOVE the fold ;-)
May 11, 2009 - 17:36 ET by Cape ConservativeThis comment comes from a proud Tea Party attendee, otherwise known as a RWRE!! It is no dishonor to be in a minority in the cause of liberty and virtue ~ Sam Adams
Actually I'm surprised
May 11, 2009 - 17:09 ET by bre1227BHO had a hard time selling newspapers, he sure sold his line of BS and absolute lies to the majority of the voting public
I guess the NY Slimes and MSNBS
May 11, 2009 - 17:23 ET by gmaniac1are Baby Boy's bib and bottle when things get rough.
When the people fear the government it's called tyranny, when the government fears the people it's called liberty!
modo
May 11, 2009 - 17:38 ET by east tennessee johnOf course he wasn't good at it. It was a private sector, for profit gig. Might be the only one he's ever had. It paid on the basis of PERFORMANCE, not promise.
He had a real job!
May 11, 2009 - 17:56 ET by slickwillie2001I'm shocked, -"Obama... sold
subscriptions briefly while attending Columbia University."
A real job! Had this come out during the election, I might have voted for him!
sw... Oh yeah...same
May 11, 2009 - 18:02 ET by bigtimersw...
Oh yeah...same here.
Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea. ~Andrew Breitbart
I didn't think Vulcans ever
May 11, 2009 - 20:02 ET by Dan DiegoI didn't think Vulcans ever got "cranky", unless of course they have to mate with a Klingon.
I imagine Michelle wasn't happy with "Kling on" being mentioned in a Obama piece.
Re Klingon
May 11, 2009 - 20:42 ET by slickwillie2001Yep, the whole Star Trek vs Bamster administration is a gift, since the M'chell meme started long before this new movie came out.
Even a half Vulcan would see
May 11, 2009 - 21:03 ET by Dan DiegoEven a half Vulcan would see that saving a failed enterprise (NYT) no matter how much they suck up, defies logic.
Mr. Obama told me that he
May 12, 2009 - 04:14 ET by RR GOPMr. Obama told me that he had briefly sold subscriptions to The
New York Times when he was at Columbia University to help pay for
school, but confessed he wasn't very good at it.
I guess since he hadn't met Plouffe or Axelrod yet, he had no clue (at that time) how to sell a crappy product to idiots.
One of the 34% who thinks George W. Bush was a great President. One of the 61% who wants to bring back the stock and pillory (yep...approval for Congress now at 39%...do you believe that!?).
RR - A perfect Zing ;-)
May 12, 2009 - 20:34 ET by Cape ConservativeThis comment comes from a proud Tea Party attendee, otherwise known as a RWRE!! It is no dishonor to be in a minority in the cause of liberty and virtue ~ Sam Adams