James Wolcott takes it to the bridge (Schindler Press Conference)

[CatWoman]

The so-called press conferences they do in front of the hospice, for example. A press conference, even in the Bush era, is supposed to incorporate questions from the press.

Not with the Schindlers. The cable news correspondents announce that the Schindlers and their friar homies are about to hold a press conference, whereupon the Schindler camp forms this strange human choo-choo train toward the nest of microphones. Then as momma or poppa makes a terse statement, flanked by Randall Terry and the friars making their sad-determined faces. Sometimes the father uses phrases like "judicial homicide" that sound less like those of a grieving father than of someone who's been well prepped by his rightwing handlers. Last night the mother appealed to Michael's new partner, guilt-tripping her with references to the two children they have together, to devote herself to them and let her have her daughter back.

-snip-

And then there's Joe Scarborough. Because I have a heart, I removed a couple of pages from by book Attack Poodles about the death of Lori Klausitis, a young staffer for then Republican Congressman Scarborough whose body was discovered in his district office. He was in Washington, DC at the time of her death, but there were some iffy aspects about her case and unlike the Gary Condit situation, this mini-mystery got no play in the national media since it didn't plug into the horny Clinton Democrats-interns meme.

I wrote about it in a Vanity Fair column but when I reworked the column for the book, its inclusion bothered me; there was something tonally wrong about it that clashed with the rest of the text, and I heard that Scarborough had been upset about it when it came out and that it caused distress to his new family. I had also heard from more than one person that he was not a bad guy off camera, funny and unpretentious, which also tilted towards leniency. I felt I could make my points about him as a TV personality without the passage, so I cut it, and hearing second-hand he was concerned about the book, called him up to tell him so. We had a very pleasant, brief conversation, and that was it.

http://jameswolcott.com/archives/2005/03/the_ghoulies.php

[Fenris]

1. Let's hear it for Gentleman Jimmy!

:applause:

:hi:

[msanthrope]

2. Friar Homies--priceless...n/t

[NightOwwl]

3. I love James Wolcott...

he is on my list of daily reads. If you haven't read "Attack Poodles," it is well worth the time. Very entertaining and scathing, just like his blog.

[Neecy]

4. I love him, too

I check his blog daily, and he's always a good read.

He's very good defending the liberal position on television - probably why we so seldom see him there, except on CSPAN.