Word: press
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...would try such a stunt? Better yet, who would respond? The campus Left was almost as controversial; these days, Perspective sounds, well, sensible, frightening as it is to contemplate. The campus press was once split into armed camps, enragedly quoting each other out of context, treasuring each "[sic]" like a captured enemy standard. People weren't a bunch of Voltairetrained parrots, who dutifully preface every rebuttal with a formulaic declaration of how earnestly they support the right of their opponents to speak, regardless of the clap-trap spoken. And today? The name "Al Gore" says...
...heels of his Iowa victory, something suddenly snapped. At each press conference, Bush dropped another veil. First he said he could pass the White House background check that asks appointees whether they have used drugs in the past seven years. The next day it was up to 25 years. Even people who thought reporters had no business asking the questions were surprised by how Bush was answering them. By the end of the week, Bush allies wondered why he was giving so much oxygen to a story he needs to smother. It's not that they're suddenly worried...
Bush all but said the other candidates, with their instant denials and coy cooperation with the witch-hunts, were taking the easy way out. By answering any and all questions, they imply that nothing is out of bounds, not even questions about rumors of drug use from an unelected press corps that has its own skeletons. His approach was harder to pull off: raise the bar, create a zone of privacy, don't fall into the trap of trying to prove a negative. The problem is that Bush went about his nondisclosure selectively. In a political age when biography...
...excellent books and a film retrospective. Mark A. Vierra's Sin in Soft Focus: Pre-Code Hollywood (Abrams; 240 pages; $39.95) mixes gorgeous photos with tart memos and anecdotes from the period. Thomas Doherty's Pre-Code Hollywood: Sex, Immorality, and Insurrection in American Cinema 1930-1934 (Columbia University Press; 430 pages; $19.50) cogently examines the pictures and their political impact. Those in New York City can see the fabulous evidence firsthand. Film Forum, the town's invaluable rep house, is mounting a series of 44 key films, unspooling through Sept...
What I want to say to the press is "Don't ask." And what I want to say to George W. is "Don't tell." I don't have any confidence that the press will take my advice. Like drunks, they vow every four years to stop covering scandal. They go up to Harvard to dry out, and then they come back craving more. But I think the Governor just might listen to me, not only because my wife Mary is a friend of his and a supporter but because I've seen my share of scandals...