have sick-bags at the ready (weapons, boycott, 9/11, military)
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Location: The Land Mass Between NOLA and Mobile, AL
1,796 posts, read 1,660,393 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by free_food
With so many people suffering right now, I think it sucks that the media glamorizes this crap. I realize that it has been done for decades, but it is time for it to stop.
This is at least an arguable claim. It seems like the original post's claim really isn't arguable; it is rather a matter of taste. Matters of taste are hard to argue about because there is no universally agreed upon set of criteria by which to evaluate things. I may prefer hot dogs, but I'll have a hard time convincing a hamburger aficionado to come over to the hot dog preferring camp.
People could argue about how much the current administration is spending on such things as state dinners. But, to do so honestly, they would have to take into account the lavish amounts of money the Reagans spent to update the White House's china and other dining accessories. What the New York Times article describes is pretty much the opposite of that kind of conspicuous consumption. The lettuce for the Obamas' dinner came from their garden, for example. It is hard for me to imagine anyone having an argument with that--how could that source of food be any cheaper, or, on some level, more modest? I simply don't get the outrage or annoyance expressed here.
It's par for the course to reward your friends with lavish dinner parties once a President gets into office. No big deal. But I do think it's a bit much to slobber over all the details the way the writer of the article did. It sounded more like a description of a wedding in the social column of a local newspaper.
It's par for the course to reward your friends with lavish dinner parties once a President gets into office. No big deal. But I do think it's a bit much to slobber over all the details the way the writer of the article did. It sounded more like a description of a wedding in the social column of a local newspaper.
That's a good comparison, and I couldn't agree more. But state dinners are social events, so such rhetoric is expected. Calling the writer a sycophant is rather bizarre.
That's a good comparison, and I couldn't agree more. But state dinners are social events, so such rhetoric is expected. Calling the writer a sycophant is rather bizarre.
Yes, there are many who do follow the social scene in DC and lap up every tidbit. So what? Lots of people like to read about those things. And I wouldn't go so far as to call the writer a "sycophant". That's like calling a tea party attendee a "tea bagger".
When I was a teenager back in the 1940's I couldn't get enough of movie magazines telling me all the juicy details of both the public and private lives of movie stars. Anyone else here who remembers Louella Parsons and Hedda Hopper?
When I was a teenager back in the 1940's I couldn't get enough of movie magazines telling me all the juicy details of both the public and private lives of movie stars. Anyone else here who remembers Louella Parsons and Hedda Hopper?
Now I'm a bit nervous. On one hand, that you've made it this far offers me hope, but if my body feels this old at a measly 52, what will I feel like at 80?
Obama's have some people over to have vittles with the leader of India.
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