Sunday, July 23, 2006

Tennessean Columnist and Orgies

The Tennessean's resident expert on state politics begins today's column by suggesting that the contest between Ed Bryant, Bill Corker, and Van Hilleary should be renamed "a political orgy of name-calling and deception."

Orgy of name-calling? Are we straining to work in a titillating word here? While the word "orgy" is used in non-sexual contexts, the term denotes not merely a lot of something, but a lot of something driven by a craving for it. Is Daughtrey saying that the candidates crave deception? If so, he is engaging in nothing more than name-calling and character assassination.

Did a Gannett consultant tell Daughtrey that he needed to spice up his columns in order to gain readership, or has Daughtrey let something slip about his own fantasies?

Or, is Daughtrey a writer who doesn't concern himself with the meanings of the words he writes? That would be the most palatable and likely solution, though not necessarily a flattering one for Daughtrey.

The headline includes the words "rompin'" and "stompin'." As those words are not from Daughtrey's diatribe, one fears that they reflect the headline writer's own prurient thinking?

Regardless, the remainder of the column is standard Daughtrey fare: virtually no analysis, and a lot of ranting and name calling. Daughtrey accuses conservatives of being a "fringe obsessed with," among other things, punishing immigrants, beating drums, and hating Bill Clinton, a set of characteristics he claims is "an old formula" that "works in some times and in some places."

Nonetheless, while Daughtrey fills his column with name-calling, we will not call it an orgy. Daughtrey and orgy conjure up pictures that no one should be forced to visualize.

Update. It occurred to me that Daughtrey may just be frustrated that he has not been permitted to get in on any of The Tennessean's extended coverage of Pamela Rogers.

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Maybe I'm just cynical but I don't think this race has been dirty at all. I mean, what's the worst that's been bandied about?

Corker is too liberal? Bryant and Hilleary are dreaded lobbyists?

The dirtiest thing so far has been Wonkette dragging Corker's daughter into it and a Democrat PR firm trying to stir up a racial hornet's nest about where Fancy "Not Your Father's Felon" Ford eats his overpriced dinner and with whom in New York.

This race won't be dirty until the primary is over and Ford interjects race into it. I've seen him in person. He does it in his stump speeches, he'll do it when he's down 15 points.

11:58 AM  
Blogger Donna Locke said...

The Tennessean is hopelessly mired in the shallows. Daughtrey splashes about in the shallow end of the shallows.

10:28 PM  

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