The liberal media are deeply invested in the idea that Ted Cruz must suffer for mocking “New York values,” even liberals in Washington. On the front page of Sunday’s Washington Post, correspondent Stephanie McCrummen penned a transparently petulant editorial trashing Cruz. Editors made sure Cruz was called an “a–hole” before the story jumped inside the paper. She began:
With the New York primary just days away and the airwaves filled with presidential candidates talking about New York values, two guys were discussing the subject during a coffee break on Wall Street.
“Hey Steve,” one friend called to another. “What’s a New York value?”
“Life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness — and Ted Cruz is a complete a--hole,” said Steve Giannantonio, who works in finance. “That’s a New York value.”
That was only one in a series of New Yorkers lined up by the newspaper to denounce Cruz in the strongest terms. Try finding the phrase “Obama is a complete a–hole” in the Post over the last eight or nine years – not just on the front page, but anywhere in the paper.
The front-page headline was "There are New York values Ted Cruz probably never expected." Inside the paper, it was "Cruz is the issue that brings NYC together." This passage – employing a black feminist as the voice of New York values – underlines the counterintuitive argument that "New York values" means gentleness and getting along:
“I just want to finish my brunch,” said Marcia Gillespie, 72, a former editor-in-chief of Essence and Ms. magazines. On the next bar stool, a woman who wished to be identified only as a resident of West 70th Street attempted to explain.
“We’re neighbors here,” she began calmly. “We enjoy the theater. We enjoy the arts. We enjoy Central Park, we enjoy the city — that’s New York. We’ve got all kinds of people, and we’ve all got to get along. Be kind, be patient, be gentle. Cruz is a moron. Marcia, what do you think of that jerk?”
“He was using New York as a symbol,” said Gillespie. “It’s code speak, so if you buy into the code, you start to defend it, and it’s indefensible.”
“That’s a very good insight,” said her friend.
“Thank you sweetheart,” said Gillespie.
Neighborliness: a New York value.
Earth to the Post: no one thinks New York City is defined by people being patient and gentle to each other. The stereotype is it’s loud, it’s brash, it loves to yell – it’s Donald Trump, in a nutshell. McCrummen’s method was to list definitions New Yorkers offered of their values:
– “Knowing your logistics is a New York value, Navarro said.”
– “Doing business: a New York value.”
– “Living your own life and dealing with what comes your way: a New York value.”
– “When Cruz gave an impassioned speech at a GOP fundraiser in the city last week, attendees chatted amongst themselves, clinking forks on plates, exercising the New York value of ignoring a yelling person.”
And...having a brain is a New York value?
The next day was sunny, and down on Wall Street, a guy in a leather jacket was sitting outside in the late afternoon, reading the paper. This was Paul Feinberg, 63, who spoke for many New Yorkers when he said of Cruz and the whole New York values controversy: “I don’t care what Ted Cruz said or what he thinks. I couldn’t care less. It’s just a phrase, you know? Not to be vague, but it’s just a phrase. I suppose anyone with a brain is considered having New York values.”
Having a brain: a New York value.
This article-length attack wouldn’t be complete without the hackdom of an anti-Semitism accusation:
“I think he meant to distinguish New York Jewish elite liberals from the rest of the country,” said David Denowitz, 59, the lawyer, referring to Cruz’s jab. “I took it very badly, because I’m a New York Jewish elite liberal. Well, upper-middle class and educated.”
He thought about his own New York values.
“New York is really a shining example for the rest of the world — we’re Muslim, Catholic, Jewish, and we all ride the same subway, we all sit at the same lunch counter, and no bombs go off because no one feels the need,” he said, pointing out that the obvious exceptions were the work of outsiders.
McCrummen finished this jeremiad by referring to noble New Yorkers in the aftermath of 9/11....just like Donald Trump does. This entire story could have been a Trump advertisement.
