Comments on: Reading the tea leaves at the New York Times http://pajamasmedia.com/rogerlsimon/2007/05/25/reading-the-tea-leaves-at-the-new-york-times/ Just another Pajamasmedia.com weblog Thu, 26 Nov 2009 21:15:38 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: photoncourier.blogspot.com http://pajamasmedia.com/rogerlsimon/2007/05/25/reading-the-tea-leaves-at-the-new-york-times/#comment-87773 photoncourier.blogspot.com Sat, 26 May 2007 14:10:26 +0000 http://pajamasmedia.com/rogerlsimon/2007/05/25/reading-the-tea-leaves-at-the-new-york-times/#comment-87773 "or she's going to be mighty angry"...she's going to be mighty angry whatever happens; anger is her defining core. “or she’s going to be mighty angry”…she’s going to be mighty angry whatever happens; anger is her defining core.

]]> By: Carl Spackler http://pajamasmedia.com/rogerlsimon/2007/05/25/reading-the-tea-leaves-at-the-new-york-times/#comment-87772 Carl Spackler Sat, 26 May 2007 11:33:25 +0000 http://pajamasmedia.com/rogerlsimon/2007/05/25/reading-the-tea-leaves-at-the-new-york-times/#comment-87772 In the late 60's, as a little kid, I got a trip and a sleepover at West Point. I remember how the Cadets received the New York Times everyday, and were required to read it. Back then it had few, if any, pictures and seemed a very serious paper. Then there were the years I couldn't go a day without reading the Times, along with the Boston Globe, my local paper and the Wall Street Journal. Now I find most national papers just lead me further from reality. They don't help, they make things worse, like some constant, low-level info buzz that a character from Orwell's 1984 might comment upon. I hardly buy a paper anymore. ( I�ve also noticed no one under 35 buys papers.) And the big three TV news shows that I used to watch every night? Haven't in 7-10 years. In the late 60’s, as a little kid, I got a trip and a sleepover at West Point. I remember how the Cadets received the New York Times everyday, and were required to read it. Back then it had few, if any, pictures and seemed a very serious paper.

Then there were the years I couldn’t go a day without reading the Times, along with the Boston Globe, my local paper and the Wall Street Journal.

Now I find most national papers just lead me further from reality. They don’t help, they make things worse, like some constant, low-level info buzz that a character from Orwell’s 1984 might comment upon. I hardly buy a paper anymore. ( I�ve also noticed no one under 35 buys papers.)

And the big three TV news shows that I used to watch every night? Haven’t in 7-10 years.

]]> By: Terrye http://pajamasmedia.com/rogerlsimon/2007/05/25/reading-the-tea-leaves-at-the-new-york-times/#comment-87771 Terrye Sat, 26 May 2007 10:00:53 +0000 http://pajamasmedia.com/rogerlsimon/2007/05/25/reading-the-tea-leaves-at-the-new-york-times/#comment-87771 I am feeling a little numb myself. Politics is soap opera. I don't know if the internet helps or hinders at this point. I think we forget that while the NYT might be the paper or record or whatever and while Kos might get 600,000 hits a day or something and while Instapundit might get more than 100,000 hits a day or there abouts....American Idol got over 70 million votes in their last show. That tells you where people's heads are at. They might have the right idea. I am feeling a little numb myself. Politics is soap opera. I don’t know if the internet helps or hinders at this point. I think we forget that while the NYT might be the paper or record or whatever and while Kos might get 600,000 hits a day or something and while Instapundit might get more than 100,000 hits a day or there abouts….American Idol got over 70 million votes in their last show. That tells you where people’s heads are at.

They might have the right idea.

]]> By: Michael J. Totten http://pajamasmedia.com/rogerlsimon/2007/05/25/reading-the-tea-leaves-at-the-new-york-times/#comment-87770 Michael J. Totten Sat, 26 May 2007 06:32:00 +0000 http://pajamasmedia.com/rogerlsimon/2007/05/25/reading-the-tea-leaves-at-the-new-york-times/#comment-87770 From Christopher Hitchens <i>Letters to a Young Contrarian</i>: How to ward off atrophy and routine, you ask? Well, I can give you a small and perhaps ridiculous example. Every day, the New York Times carries a motto in a box on its front page. "All the News That's Fit to Print," it says. It's been saying it for decades, day in and day out. I imagine that most readers of the canonical sheet have long ceased to notice this bannered and flaunted symbol of its mental furniture. I myself check every day to make sure the bright, smug, pompous, idiotic claim is still there. Then I check to make sure that it still irritates me. If I can still exclaim, under my breath, why do they insult me and what do they take me for and what the hell is it supposed to mean unless it's as obviously complacent and conceited and censorious as it seems to be, then at least I know I still have a pulse. From Christopher Hitchens Letters to a Young Contrarian:

How to ward off atrophy and routine, you ask? Well, I can give you a small and perhaps ridiculous example. Every day, the New York Times carries a motto in a box on its front page. “All the News That’s Fit to Print,” it says. It’s been saying it for decades, day in and day out. I imagine that most readers of the canonical sheet have long ceased to notice this bannered and flaunted symbol of its mental furniture. I myself check every day to make sure the bright, smug, pompous, idiotic claim is still there. Then I check to make sure that it still irritates me. If I can still exclaim, under my breath, why do they insult me and what do they take me for and what the hell is it supposed to mean unless it’s as obviously complacent and conceited and censorious as it seems to be, then at least I know I still have a pulse.

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