Globe Columnist Goes Off Deep End: Mass. Electorate Was 'Drunk on Power'

I heard Rush reading from a newspaper column during his first hour, but missed the first couple of paragraphs. So I didn't know its origin. Given what I was hearing, I thought that El Rushbo was surely reading the latest from Maureen Dowd at the New York Times.

Nope. It turns out that it was written by the Boston Globe's Brian McGrory (pictured at right; original is at this link). McGrory wants to tell us that the Bay Staters who voted for Scott Brown over Martha Coakley did so because of the self-importance thrust on them by the national media spotlight and not out of any real conviction.

But his bawdy treatment distracts from his intent, as you will see in the excerpts that follow, which in this case are no substitute for reading -- or actually enduring -- the whole thing:

Seduced by our new senator

I’m going to need some Advil and a cold compress, please. I’m the Massachusetts Electorate, and I have what is bar none the absolute worst hangover of my entire voting life.

Seriously, I was so drunk on power, so caught up in the moment, so free of any of my usual inhibitions, I can’t remember what’s gone on these last two weeks. Think, Electorate, think. What did I do?

This much I’m starting to remember. Martha and I walked into the party and everything seemed to be going fine. She wasn’t talking much, but she never really does, and she wasn’t exactly pushing me to bare my soul, either. That’s what I’ve always liked about Martha: She’s a low-maintenance politician.

And now I’m vaguely recalling that stranger across the room, the one in the barn jacket who kept smiling at me and seemed to know my name. Martha vanished for a while, and – is it bad that I’m saying this? -- I didn’t really care.

Suddenly, that tall, handsome man was standing at my side doing something that Martha rarely did – offering to pay for drinks, chatting me up, curious what was on my mind.

.... We were on the dance floor, Scott and I, moving to the music, his hands all over my body politic. Everyone was watching, and I mean everyone – fellow partygoers, bartenders, passersby staring in the windows. Look at me, the Massachusetts Electorate, the bellwether of America!

I think I took my shirt off. I think I didn’t care. I remember something about Scott in a pair of Calvin Klein jockey shorts, but it may have been a picture he showed me from his wallet.

Out of nowhere, there were video cameras filming us from every angle. Analysts were describing the events. Scott’s important friends were texting and calling my cell. Get this: Curt Schilling, talking to a regular old Electorate like me.

.... I remember catching my breath. I remember pulling a curtain shut. I remember having to make a really important choice.

Globe commenters are mostly not amused. Some examples:

• "Typical liberal article. Surely the stupid voters didn't knowingly vote for who they truly wanted to represent them. Nope, they were seduced by a cunning republican. Elitist much?"
• "... thoroughly disturbed!"
• "Another low point for the Globe, Brian you need some counselling."
• "What a creepy piece of writing."
• "I hope this article is the death (k)nell of the Globe. You were once a great newspaper, now you are just a phony tabloid, and a bad one at that. I am so embarrassed for you, Brian. Shame on you. Poor sport. Poor loser."
• "... Who wrote this drivel? Did some thirteen year old girl steal Mr. McGrory's laptop and write an entry for her diary?"
• "Is this author comparing a vote for Scott Brown with a drunken one-night stand? That's offensive and insulting to those who legitimately chose Scott Brown based on the issues. For shame."

I strong agree with commenter "jimnagle": "I think I need a shower."

McGrory has written several books. His author page at Simon & Schuster tells us that "Brian McGrory was a roving national reporter for the Boston Globe, as well as the Globe's White House correspondent during the Clinton administration." McGrory's blind, vindictive partisanship would seem to partially explain why Clinton got the endless supply of free passes for his conduct and behavior from the press when he was in office.

Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.