NY Times opinion: Only Democrats can and should write books!
Is the bankrupt NY Times asking for a bailout yet?—B.P.
Guest Columnist
Typing Without a Clue
By TIMOTHY EGAN
Published: December 6, 2008
The unlicensed pipe fitter known as Joe the Plumber is out with a book this month, just as the last seconds on his 15 minutes are slipping away. I have a question for Joe: Do you want me to fix your leaky toilet?
I didn’t think so. And I don’t want you writing books. (ELITIST CRAP—B.P.) Not when too many good novelists remain unpublished. (IT’S AN AMERICAN CONTEMPORARY NEWS AUTOOGRAPHY. PUBLISHERS ARE ALLOWED FREEDOM OF THE PRESS IN AMERICA—B.P.) Not when too many extraordinary histories remain unread. Not when too many riveting memoirs are kicked back at authors after 10 years of toil. Not when voices in Iran, North Korea or China struggle to get past a censor’s gate.
Joe, a k a Samuel J. Wurzelbacher, was no good as a citizen (WHAT?—B.P.), having failed to pay his full share of taxes (AND CHARLES RANGEL STILL HAS A GOVERNMENT JOB—B.P.), no good as a plumber, not being fully credentialed (HE DIDN’T HAVE TO BE—B.P.), and not even any good as a faux American icon. Who could forget poor John McCain at his most befuddled, calling out for his working-class surrogate on a day when Joe stiffed him.
With a rsum full of failure, he now thinks he can join the profession of Mark Twain, George Orwell and Joan Didion. (NO. HE SIMPLY HAS A LIFE STORY HE WANTS TO TELL—B.P.)
Next up may be Sarah Palin, who is said to be worth nearly $7 million if she can place her thoughts between covers. Publishers: with all the grim news of layoffs and staff cuts at the venerable houses of American letters, can we set some ground rules for these hard times? Anyone who abuses the English language on such a regular basis should not be paid to put words in print.
(SO BILL CLINTON AND HILLARY CLINTON’S BOOKS WERE MASTERPIECES? I’LL BET THIS GUY NEVER EVEN READ THEM. JUST COMPLETE NY TIMES DRIVEL—B.P.