Arrrggh! What Did You Expect?
January 2006 By Denny Hatch
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Why Such Shock and Horror at the Obvious?
Jan. 31, 2006: Vol. 2, Issue No. 8
IN THE NEWS
How can it be that the State Department "underestimated Hamas strength?"
Why is GM's net loss "much worse than expected?"
Why do the media whip up a furor over the abduction of Christian Science Monitor writer Jill Carroll in Iraq?
What do you expect?
The Realist
In the 1960s and 1970s, the bad boy of American fringe journalism was an iconoclast named Paul Krassner. His publication, The Realist, was a skinny magazine of dense, small type on newsprint that never let on when a story was true reportage, commentary, satire or parody.
Such was the case with the "Manchester Caper" that not only provoked his readers, but also thoroughly rattled the United States Government, the country and the world.
William Manchester was a minor author who had written biographies of H.L. Mencken (1951) and the Rockefeller family (1959), as well as a couple of novels. Following the murder of John F. Kennedy, Manchester was chosen by Jacqueline Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy—the slain president's widow and brother respectively—to write the official account of the assassination that was to be published by Harper & Row.
In return for this plum assignment and a fat advance, Manchester made a Faustian pact. In order to be guaranteed total access to the Kennedys' papers, artifacts and personal recollections, he agreed to allow the family to review the final manuscript and have the right to change or delete anything they didn't like.
Jan. 31, 2006: Vol. 2, Issue No. 8
IN THE NEWS
Rice Admits U.S. Underestimated Hamas Strength
LONDON, Jan. 29 — Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice acknowledged Sunday that the United States had failed to understand the depth of hostility among Palestinians toward their longtime leaders. The hostility led to an election victory by the militant group Hamas that has reduced to tatters crucial assumptions underlying American policies and hopes in the Middle East.
—Steven R. Weisman, The New York Times, Jan. 30, 2006
GM net loss $4.8 billion, much worse than expected
DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Corp. posted a fourth-quarter net loss of $4.8 billion on Thursday, a sea of red ink deeper than the most pessimistic Wall Street estimate, as costs for layoffs and plant closures soared.
—Jui Chakravorty, Reuters, Jan. 26, 2006
Will Arab Hospitality Save a Kidnap Victim?
Journalist Jill Carroll's mother reminds her captors that under their own code, they're responsible for her.
—Aparism Ghosh, Time, Jan. 19, 2006
How can it be that the State Department "underestimated Hamas strength?"
Why is GM's net loss "much worse than expected?"
Why do the media whip up a furor over the abduction of Christian Science Monitor writer Jill Carroll in Iraq?
What do you expect?
The Realist
In the 1960s and 1970s, the bad boy of American fringe journalism was an iconoclast named Paul Krassner. His publication, The Realist, was a skinny magazine of dense, small type on newsprint that never let on when a story was true reportage, commentary, satire or parody.
Such was the case with the "Manchester Caper" that not only provoked his readers, but also thoroughly rattled the United States Government, the country and the world.
William Manchester was a minor author who had written biographies of H.L. Mencken (1951) and the Rockefeller family (1959), as well as a couple of novels. Following the murder of John F. Kennedy, Manchester was chosen by Jacqueline Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy—the slain president's widow and brother respectively—to write the official account of the assassination that was to be published by Harper & Row.
In return for this plum assignment and a fat advance, Manchester made a Faustian pact. In order to be guaranteed total access to the Kennedys' papers, artifacts and personal recollections, he agreed to allow the family to review the final manuscript and have the right to change or delete anything they didn't like.
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