Word: blairã
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Most journalists have approached Blair??s new memoir, Burning Down My Masters’ House (New Millennium Press), as they might approach a leper whose sins have rendered him beyond redemption. Blair, who plagiarized and fabricated dozens of stories for The New York Times and subsequently upended the world’s most respected newspaper, is undoubtedly the most hated man in journalism...
...advance of the memoir’s release, top Times editors assured staff in a brief memo, “We don’t intend to respond to Jayson or his book.” Elsewhere, visceral contempt for Blair??the sinner and his sins—has clouded most attempts to assess the memoir. And in that sense, Blair??s otherwise-sleazy title rings true. The pain he has inflicted upon journalists is visceral. This heretic has momentarily shattered the house of worship...
...celebrity memoir, of course, is liable to allegations of self-promotion, but Blair??s story permits him one legitimate justification for publishing this nearly 300-page treatise: an apology. Blair does apologize, but he couches the mea culpa in so many excuses that he hardly seems repentant. Among his many rationalizations, Blair blames a hostile environment at the Times and an escalating addiction to cocaine. But readers would have more sympathy for Blair??s latter excuse, at least, if he didn’t seem to take pride in his vices. Responding to an editor...
...begins Blair??s descent into unending deceit, occurring simultaneously with his own mental breakdown—or so he tells us—and eventual suicide attempt, which Blair recounts in the book’s most powerful moment. “I looked up at the strong metal hinge in the bathroom and saw nothing but relief,” he writes. “I wrapped the leather around my neck. It felt cold and slightly sticky, but I did not jerk from it. I felt out of my body.” Given the strident...
...this, Blunkett said, calls for security intelligence and surveillance—for laws to be passed through democratic institutions like Congress and Parliament. Citing British Prime Minister Tony Blair??s speech last Friday, Blunkett said that times and enemies are different...