I just read with some bemusement Will’s rant about the New York Times (it was about an article I didn’t read, although I did pause and go ” … huh,” when I saw the blurb). Will is concerned that the venerable NYT is attempting to capture a market share formerly held by the National Enquirer.
Fear not, young William! For I have proof positive that the New York Times is still aiming above the heads of most Americans.
I will admit that I have, out of morbid curiosity and an impending case of mouse elbow (from cut-and-pasting repeatedly), been checking the various news outlets to see if there have been any developments … oh, what the heck — to see if Hillary’s seen the writing on the wall and called it quits or if she’s going to attempt to singlehandedly cause the Democratic party to implode. Hillary, babe, love ya, but enough is enough already. The fat lady done her bit and has moved on to the afterparty.
Anyway, I ran across this little bit that proves that no matter how hard the NYT tries to go after the National Enquirer, it’s not going to get there easily.
In a piece entitled “Barack Obama: Calm in the Swirl of History,” Michael Powell informs us that, “Mr. Obama is a protean figure who inspires devotion in his supporters but remains inscrutable to critics.”
Come again?
I consider myself a relatively overeducated individual, but what the hell does that mean?
Fortunately, the New York Times lets you double click on words so that you can double click on, say, protean to discover that it means “Readily taking on varied shapes, forms, or meanings.”
Ah! So, what Mr. Powell is saying is that “Mr. Obama is a shapeshifter, not unlike a werewolf.” See, that I understand.
See, Will, this is why the New York Times will never, truly, replace the National Enquirer. Because when they start reporting on rural folk in the great plains who claim to have seen werewolves and space aliens, they’re likely to actually use the word “protean” in the course of the article. High-level discourse, low-brow content.
And really, isn’t that what America’s all about?
Tags: barack obama, media, New-York-Times, Will
Ah, young Chris. ‘Protean’ is one of my favorite words, especially since Michael Chabon put it to elegant and indisputably accurate use in ‘Wonder Boys’ when he wrote “…which, like the faces of all redheads, was protean and odd.”
Which means that the vast unwashed hordes of flyover middle America just might have learned the word, as you have to go through the ‘C’ section to reach the ‘L’ section, and that’s where Tim LaHaye’s ‘Left Behind’ series is…
Oh, please. They only found the “Left Behind” series because it was on an endcap.