Joan Vennochi got a case of the vapors writing today's column, the point of which seems to be that Joe Biden should be ashamed of himself for saying "fucking" and that college students should not say "fuck" in job interviews. Only, of course, Joan couldn't actually say "fuck" herself, even if the Globe would let her, because polite ladies never say such words, and so she had to resort to a string of fucking euphemisms.
Also, it's apparently OK now to wear flip flops to the White House.
Vennochi goes after "Ernie Boch III," the not-the-car-dealer trying to organize a boycott of Howie Carr's advertisers:
The blogosphere opened up the public conversation to new, thoughtful voices, but it should not provide a shield to hide biases and private agendas.
Oh, excuse me, Miss High and Mighty.
So Vennochi writes an entire column on whether the state should throw another one of those no-sales-tax days and then, out of the blue, ends the thing like this:
... What's Patrick really thinking?
Maybe that his friend Barack Obama is going to be president, that he will be going with him to Washington, and that the Massachusetts budget mess will be someone else's problem.
So that's it, then, Joan? Patrick has gotten bored with state government faster than Bill Weld? Or did you just realize on deadline your column on the sales tax was a paragraph short? Or as the Outraged Liberal puts it:
There's a name for stories and columns that praise/criticize an individual for an action that requires group action, then uses the standard political rumor of the day as an explanation for said action.
It's called phoning it in.
Mike Mennonno gets us started with the core algorithm for the system:
... Vennochi's modus operandi seems to be to broadcast the nasty message of "the most cynical pundits and radio talk-show hosts" on the right while pretending she's above them with little caveats like "that is a harsh conclusion I do not share." It's as artless as it is disingenuous. ...
Ryan Adams has had an interesting e-mail exchange with the Globe's Joan Vennochi about the intersection of columnists and bloggers (although I question his assertion that columnists are supposed to be unbiased, and I wonder if Vennochi assented to have her e-mail made public).
Joan Vennochi writes that Tom Reilly's rejection of Chris Gabrieli as a running mate because he wouldn't release his tax returns and his selection of Marie St. Fleur, who was a tax deadbeat, just doesn't make sense.
Where have I read that assertion before? Oh, yeah, yesterday on Blue Mass. Group.
Because otherwise people might start wondering about a campaign that lies about its involvement in what Blue Mass. Group is calling KillerCokegate.
Andy at Mass. Revolution Now would love to hear Reilly address the issue:
Sco: How many times is Joan Vennochi going to write the same column?
... Does she get a kickback for every "Democrats have no message" or "Democrats are reeling" column that she writes? ...
On the Chimes at Midnight, Elias dissects Tubby Harrison, the pollster Vennochi quotes to prove her contention that the Dems are adrift:
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