Word: self
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...people point the finger at Ronald Reagan, as the pioneer of substance-less campaigning oriented to the little glass screen. And in a fit of self-flagellation, the media have even blamed themselves. In a democracy however, there are no excuses. We, the people, are the guilty ones, and we always get what we deserve...
...they have at last redefined their ideology, risen above the folly of faction and rediscovered the magic formula to create a national majority. The jaunty confidence of the Atlanta convention and the euphoria that accompanied summer polls pointing to a Dukakis landslide are a potent illustration of how deeply self-deception is embedded in the party's soul. Each presidential pratfall comes as a stunning surprise, since the Democrats stubbornly refuse to acknowledge that around 1968 or 1972 they ceased to be the nation's natural governing party. The myth structure that surrounds the victories of Franklin Roosevelt dies hard...
...nature of the Dukakis defeat virtually guarantees four years of Democratic doctrinal debate, since nearly all factions in the party can concoct self-serving rationales for the setback. The party's Southern moderates will point to the popularity of Lloyd Bentsen as evidence that the 1992 nominee must be tough on defense and immune to Republican attacks on social issues. Jesse Jackson and the left-leaning liberals will decry Dukakis' ideological blandness. Even the party centrists, whose position has been weakened by the twin failures of Mondale and Dukakis, can with some justice argue that a better candidate might...
Maybe those shameless, down-and-dirty football novels, Semi-Tough and Life Its Own Self, worked as well as they did because author Dan Jenkins did not take novelizing very seriously and was rowdily irreverent about Texas and football. Fast Copy, Jenkins' latest, is longer, straighter, less rowdy and not quite so much fun. The background is 1930s journalism, including the early days of TIME and big- and small-time newspapering in Texas and elsewhere. Jenkins, too much in love with his subject, throws in every good story he knows about gangsters, FBI men, reporters, editors, oil wildcatters and similar...
...name "Didi, Didi," then segues into the theme from The Twilight Zone. Martin is never so outrageous, but his familiar cool-guy strut and laid-back vocalisms keep him from inhabiting his character. Irwin is grayly competent as Lucky. The only really satisfying performance is Abraham's. Hugely self-satisfied in the first act, blind and pathetic in the second, he steals the show by simply acting his role while the stars are embellishing theirs...