Gotta Love Tradition
In these turbulent and uncertain times, it's refreshing to know that there are some traditions we can cling to. I'm speaking, of course, about the Jayson Blair scandal trajectory, which is a refreshingly mundane take on The Average American Scandal. Let's recap, shall we?
- Blair's lying is discovered.
- Blair's employer tries to make it go away.
- Employer discovers that scandal won't go away; makes Blair go away instead.
- Blair writes "tell-all" expose, in which he reveals that other reporters (gasp!) faked datelines. No word on whether the actual stories were fabricated, but the "everyone else was doing it too" is a nice homage to the "poor me" tradition of sympathy mongering.
- Blair goes on Larry King to tell his side of the story.
- Blair goes through the entire deck of Victim Cards, using race, mental health, and addiction as excuses.
- Larry King nods sympathetically, whilst an aide wipes the drool from his chin.
- Blair vows to fight valiantly on, while America mentally lumps him into the Tonya Harding category of "Sad Wannabes Who Will Show Up on Celebrity Boxing."
Ah, tradition. Ain't it a wonderful thing?
Posted by Big Arm Woman at March 10, 2004 09:09 AM