The Blackhearted Ethos Of 'Game Change'

[spiritual_gunfighter]

Mark Halperin and John Heilemann's "Game Change" is a soulless and dishonest work from the first paragraph of its "authors' note":

"The idea for this book arose in the spring of 2008 out of a pair of firm convictions. The first was that the election we had both been following intensely for more than a year was as riveting and historic a spectacle as modern politics had ever produced. The second was that, despite wall-to-wall media coverage, much of the story behind the headlines had not been told."

I think it's important to note that these are not "convictions." The first is an entirely conventional and widely-expressed observation on the 2008 race made by everyone in the media.

The second is nothing more than a one-sentence distillation of this book's marketing campaign.

That said, the authors deserve credit for prominently stating the deeper ethos of their book right from the start. Right on the inside of the book jacket, a quote from Barack Obama, circa 2008, is there to greet the reader:

"This shit would be really interesting if we weren't in the middle of it."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/12/the-blackhearted-ethos-of_n_420419.html

[babylonsister]

1. Wow, they actually found someone to quote? With quotation marks?

Granted, I haven't read it, but they both sound like a couple of gossip mongers. This is titillating, yet pathetic.

[stray cat]

2. Any legitimate denials yet? I've heard apologies for statements but not denials

Our senate leader confirmed he was the source for the statement attributed to him. The media is overboard as is the GOP but I am not hearing many denials and I've heard some confirmations

[babylonsister]

3. Harry Reid apologized, so I suspect what he said was true. As for

Clinton, maybe he doesn't want to reduce himself to their level.

Memo to media: Statement attributed to Clinton in Game Change is not a direct quote
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=433x121555

And McLame?

"I wouldn't know."
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7448921

[spiritual_gunfighter]

4. I put the quotes around the "Obama quote"

it actually isnt in quotes in the article. So there is no proof Obama actually said this.

[babylonsister]

5. Haha! Thanks for sharing. It did sound familiar, so I suspect something

similar was said by the President.

[spiritual_gunfighter]

6. The sourcing in this book is starting to come into question

Joan Walsh on the Ed Show brought this up tonight. I think there is going to be a lot of press on it in the coming days. I am having trouble believing a lot of what is in the book. Obviously some things are true, obviously the Harry Reid quote is true. But knowing the history of the authors and the sourcing problems. I am not sure about anything in it.

[DeepModem Mom]

7. K&R