Today’s the Day the Chinstrokers Have Their Picnic

October 12, 2012

Two local dailies, two different worlds of vice presidential debate post mortems. At the Boston Herald, it was joltin’ Joe time.

First up, Howie Carr:

Joe Biden makes case for . . . term limits

Hey Joe Biden, what’s so funny?

The only real takeaway from this debate is we really need term limits for politicians. Joe Biden was first elected to the Senate in 1972 at age 30. Somewhere around 1992, he should have had to go out and get a real job.

Nothing like having to answer to a boss to make you a little more humble. What’s up with the smirking? It seemed like Clint Eastwood was back up on stage, this time in character from “Gran Torino.”

“Get off my lawn!”

Not to mention don’t sit in my chair.

Next, Holly Robichaud:

Off-the-rails VP a boost for Paul Ryan

OMG. Vice President Joe Biden was an embarrassment not only to the Democrat ticket, but also for the country.

Clearly he was attempting to make up for the inadequate performance of President Obama by attacking Paul Ryan’s every syllable.

He overcompensated with the phony laugh and the constant interruption. It was hard to get over Biden’s wild-eyed look to hear what he was saying. The best word to describe his performance is: unhinged.

Wow. Not sure Holly’s all that hinged herself.

Even though it was two-on-one, Margery Eagan managed to hold her own with this minority report:

Goofy Joe Biden gets the job done

Joe Biden, the 69-year-old granddad best known for his gaffes and goofs, committed conduct unbecoming a vice president last night. He mocked Paul Ryan. He grinned and laughed too much. It was dismissive and annoying. It reminded me of Al Gore’s exasperated, exaggerated sighs at George W. Bush . . .

But good ol’ Joe did what Obama needed him to do. He attacked Ryan’s facts repeatedly (“With all due respect, you’re full of malarkey”). And he had a far better abortion answer for pro-choice women. (“I refuse to impose (my pro-life personal views) on others, unlike my friend here, the congressman,” who would criminalize abortion.)

Biden bought his boss some time. Panicked, demoralized Democrats can only hope Obama shows a quarter of Biden’s fight at his next debate.

Panicked, demoralized Democrats can also check out the Boston Globe, where Biden got a more modulated (read: less rapid) welcome from the chinstrokers.

Start with Derrick Jackson:

Is Biden’s performance enough to stop the slide?

HAMPTON, Va.

With so much of Thursday night’s vice presidential debate centered on foreign policy, incumbent Joe Biden had a clear path to victory. His depth of knowledge separated him from Republican challenger Paul Ryan. The cheers at a Hampton Democratic Committee viewing party were ample evidence that Biden said much of what these Democrats had wanted to hear from President Obama last week.

So we’ll take that as a yes.

Tom Keane issued a split decision:

Biden on policy, Ryan on style

In theory, vice presidential debates shouldn’t matter that much — only 18 percent in a recent Rasmussen Poll said it would be “very important” to their vote — and that’s the way it should be. Neither guy, one hopes, will be president and the basic task of each is to demonstrate, if disaster strikes, that he would be up to the job. Biden has proven before that he would be, and Thursday night Ryan seemed competent on a national stage.

Yet this particular debate did matter and especially for Biden. He had to stem the Mitt Romney surge that over the last week has remade this race. He may have helped slow it, but probably it hasn’t been reversed.

So we’ll take that as a draw.

And just for fun, we’ll throw in this Glen Johnson analysis:

Paul Ryan shows he is no pushover in debate

Presidential campaigns are akin to gestational periods, with months of campaigning giving voters time to slowly form their impressions of a candidate.

Against that backdrop, Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin stepped onto likely his biggest stage yet on Thursday night and showed an American electorate still getting to know the Republican vice presidential nominee that he is no pushover.

In a contentious 90-minute debate with Vice President Joe Biden, Ryan engaged in a frontal assault on a politician nearly three decades his elder. And he didn’t cower even when the discussion started with and kept coming back to foreign affairs – a supposed weakness for an economic policy wonk like him and strength for a former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee like his opponent.

So we’ll take that as an okay, and leave it at that.

 

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Boston Globe Feasts on Chick-fil-A Edition

July 30, 2012

The hardreading staff has already noted the Boston Herald’s insatiable appetite for the Chick-fil-A kerfuffle over gay marriage.

Now it’s the Boston Globe’s turn to chow down.

For starters, the Sunday Globe Ideas section featured numerous Letters to the Editor about the poultry rumpus. Representative sample:

Mayor deserves thanks for standing up to incendiary views of food chain’s president

We disagree with the Boston Globe editorial board, which questioned Boston Mayor Thomas Menino’s reaction to Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy’s incendiary remarks about marriage equality (“Boston shouldn’t block chain because of president’s views,” July 25).

Chick-fil-A has donated millions of dollars to organizations such as Family Research Council and Exodus International, which work to promote discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people and to create a hostile climate in which homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia can thrive. These hateful actions cause real harm to millions of individuals and families across this country, and are one of the reasons that LGBT people — even here in Massachusetts — face higher rates of youth suicide attempts, youth homelessness, HIV infection rates, stress, and poor health just because of who they are.

This is not just about policies; it’s about people. For using his public position to ensure and forcefully point out the obvious — that Boston strives to be a wonderfully welcoming and affirming city for LGBT people — Menino deserves our thanks. No doubt, his leadership has improved and even saved lives.

Meanwhile, Chick-fil-A’s Cathy is also learning a lesson in the obvious: It does not pay to discriminate.

Kara S. Suffredini

Executive director

MassEquality

Boston

Other letters here and here and here and here.

But wait . . . there’s more!

Tom Keane op-ed:

Rejecting Chick-fil-A is good power play for mayor

Boston Mayor Tom Menino wants to keep fast-food chain Chick-fil-A out of Boston because the company opposes same-sex marriage. Legally, Menino may in the wrong. Yet he is also completely in the right. The dustup has been portrayed as a First Amendment issue. In truth, it’s more about smart politics, mayoral power and — like it or not — Menino’s ability to make the city in his own vision.

Jennifer Graham op-ed:

Skip the boycotts; handle this with love

Apologies to Colonel Sanders, but no one makes a better chicken nugget than S. Truett Cathy, nor does a better job of marketing them.

Chick-fil-A’s billboards are three-dimensional fixtures in the South, with black-and-white cows perched on scaffolding and ladders, putting up signs that say, “Eat mor chikin.” The award-winning advertising campaign, launched in 1995, remains hilarious and fresh, and even has its own website, populated with interactive, spelling-challenged Holsteins. The chain’s “cow parachutists” television ad, which can be seen on YouTube, is classic Chick-fil-A humor.

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and the gay and lesbian community could learn a few things from the cows. Most important is this: You catch more flies with honey-mustard sauce than you ever will with vinegar.

Okay: Everybody Chick-fil-Uh Chick-fil-A?

Let’s hope so.

 

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