Friday, October 14, 2011

Gail Collins, "Here's the Herminator": GC Explains Her Mission

I have often wondered how Gail Collins twice weekly is able to squander the pulpit granted her by The New York Times and consistently assail us with drivel. In "Here's the Herminator" (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/15/opinion/collins-heres-the-herminator.html?ref=opinion), she provides the answer:

"Either way, my mission is clear. In keeping with our ongoing project of reviewing the literary output of the Republican candidates for president, today we’re going to take a look at 'This Is Herman Cain! My Journey to the White House.'"

Gail, I'm glad you have a "mission" in life, but this is not "our [italics added] ongoing project," but yours. She continues:

"When he was a vice president at the Pillsbury corporate headquarters, Cain decided that he had hit a dead end, so he gave up the title, took a pay cut and started again from the bottom at the company’s restaurant division. At 36, he was sitting at Burger King University, learning how to put buns and patties through a broiler with a roomful of recent college graduates and assistant store managers. I am not prepared to say that it’s enough to make me want to give him control of the nation’s military arsenal, but it does sound like a seriously gutsy move."

Here, I would observe that although I am no fan of Mr. Cain, at least he comes with business experience. Prior to becoming president, the experience of the young man currently occupying the Oval Office, apart from politics, amounted to a short stint as a "community organizer." This community organizer was given "control of the nation's military arsenal" and has kept us mired in a meaningless war in Afghanistan for the past three years.

Fast forward, GC cannot contain her snottiness:

"But show some respect. None of us are ahead in the presidential primary polls with a best-selling book about our journey to be the C.E.O. of Self. Stop sniffing at the fact that Cain’s chief economic adviser works at the Wells Fargo office in Pepper Pike, Ohio. Take the guy seriously."

Books? I believe that Obama has written three, all about . . . himself. And a query for Gail: After almost three years and trillions of dollars of deficit spending, does US Treasury Secretary Geithner have anything to show us, notwithstanding his remarkable curriculum vitae?

Lest Gail forget, Obama still has a year and three months remaining in his first term. Collins apparently prefers to ignore the ongoing performance of the incumbent and to focus on the giddy campaign game, which is so much more fun than to parse the wreckage of change we can believe in.

No comments:

Post a Comment