UPDATE: Leah A., who also needs her own blog, says:
- Yes indeed, the mighty Wurlitzer was on the job on this one, and it wasn't just the usual idiots. So august a conservative as Christopher Caldwell, you know, the good conservative whom TAPPED is always TAPPING on the back for his excellent writing and excellent fairness, was right in there, banging out dissonance; that's my polite word for LIES.
Even more than Noonan, who contented herself with using the good, though mis-guided Wellstone to club the mourning family and friends left behind, Caldwell implicated Wellstone himself in all the badness going on; it was emblematic, don't you know, of who Wellstone really was at heart, which Caldwell knew for sure, using that lazar eye all conservatives come equipped with that can penetrate through flesh and bone to see the real person; his unique discover - Wellstone was a phony, though a phony who didn't know he was a phony.
For instance, Caldwell claimed, there was no interest at the memoria in any of the people who died with Paul, the eulogies were only about the Senator. As Wellstone had lived, Caldwell pointed out, so had he died; after all, Wellstone's constituency was limited to left-leaning college professors (I swear to God that's what Caldwell wrote)
One problem with this analysis; as we all know, there was a long separate eulogy for each of the passengers who died in that plane. For heaven's sake, two of them were Sheila Wellstone, Paul's wife, and Marsha, his daughter. Was Caldwell trying to say Wellstone, his family and friends didn't care about them either?
Of course he wasn't. The truth is that Caldwell isn't much better than any of the contemporary right, and every bit as prone to lie. Clearly, he hadn't seen five minutes of the memorial, or made any attempt to read any accounts from neutral sources, or made any attempt to contact anyone actually there, or anyone responsible for putting on the memorial. Why bother with tiresome, and potentially troublesome facts when you are in possession of the truth, by definition. Oh sure, Caldwell's up for the occassional attack on an Anne Coulter; she's a genuine embarrassment. The question I have for Caldwell: jeepers creepers, why aren't you embarrassed by Peggy Noonan? Hell's bells, why aren't you embarrassed by yourself?
Someone, (digby, atrios) should do the same kind of job on Caldwell on the memorial that digby did so beautifully today on Noonan. Please.
(um, I think you just did)