It's like the old Hollywood adage of "It doesn't matter if the news is good or bad, just get the name spelled correctly."
It is my considered opinion that the way success is measured nowadays isn't by the results but by the manner it is 'accomplished'. Thus, as long as one 'looks good' in conquering Iraq, or the American economy, then it doesn't matter if either turn to crap later as long as one still 'looks presidential'.
Posted by pessimist at June 4, 2005 11:42 AMI am not agreeing with Manjoo, but his take on who 'won' is based on how 'wins' are defined and have been defined for some time in our country.
The 'Shorter Manjoo' misses a point. Manjoo does not say that Krugman 'got his facts right.' What he says is 'Reading Krugman's column, though, it's hard to see how Okrent concluded this.' Then he wastes a whole paragraph weaseling around the truth: When Okrent said Krugman mixed numbers from two sources, Okrent did not tell the truth. Stated another way, Okrent is full of shit.
But truth and facts, and the relationship between, them have been reconfigured. Truth means 'whatever I need other people to believe in order to get what I want.' Facts are 'the things I use to get other people to believe what I say is the truth.' And a win is 'when it's all said and done, who is running the country?'
Posted by James E. Powell at June 4, 2005 12:12 PMAfter I read what I wrote above, I decided I was letting Manjoo off to easy by talking about the world in which we live. So I wrote him a letter. Not that I expect anything.
The biggest difference between the left and the right on matters like this is that the left can neither threaten to pull their ads, nor call on a legion of preachers to rally the people.
I think unless and until the press/media oligopoly is destroyed, we are always going to be fighting a losing battle.
Posted by James E. Powell at June 4, 2005 12:57 PMFarhad Manjoo is a woman, BTW.
Posted by at June 4, 2005 03:53 PMIf Farhad Manjoo is a woman, then I apologize for a sexist assumption.
If Farhad Manjoo of Salon used to write for Wired and is the person in this photograph then I am not sorry.
Posted by James E. Powell at June 4, 2005 07:07 PMFarhad is a guy. All the Farhads I've kinown are guys. Here's his picture. http://www.mccullagh.org/image/d30-3/farhad.html
He wrote for Wired.
russ
Posted by rustam at June 5, 2005 04:49 AMI spoke with Farhad Manjoo on the phone last year, and I certainly thought he was a man.
Posted by ck at June 5, 2005 09:34 AMFarhad Manjoo -- speaking as someone who knows him very, very well -- is a man. Thanks.
Posted by farhad manjoo at June 6, 2005 02:55 PM