More on Cardinoma Ben
(I need to quickly volunteer that the term, “Carinoma Ben” is not original with me. I read it the other day and cannot, for the life of me, quickly lay my keyboarding-fingers on the rightful owner. Wow, am I jealous that I did not come up with myself…)
Anyway, Crablaw weighs in on Congressman Ben Cardin’s comments about the finding a cure for cancer.
Crablaw’s post: “Cardin: Cancer to be Cured by 2015” can be found here.
I howled over the line: “This is tragedy pimping. I don't know how Ben would look with a feather boa and a purple-pink hookermobile, but Ben decided to be a pimp today.”
Thanks for hooking me up with that image.
The comments to Crablaw’s post were valuable also.
It all reminds me of a particularly poignant column written by Charles Krauthammer in the Washington Post on October 15th, 2004, titled, “An Edwards Outrage.” Go ahead and click on it – it is a must read. I touched upon it in a Tentacle column I wrote on November 16th, 2005, titled, “Insensitive Moment.”
The reference in comments to the Crablaw post, to an article in the
Senate candidate pitches health credentials, plan to beat disease by 2015
By Doug Donovan, Sun reporter, Originally published August 15, 2006
With a month to go before primary voters head to the polls to choose Senate nominees, Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin kicked off yesterday a weeklong effort to highlight his congressional record and vision on health care by making the mother of all campaign promises - to cure cancer.
Read the rest here.
The first paragraph is typical Baltimore Sun fare. Usually the Sun will editorialize, in what is otherwise supposed to be a straight-up and down-the-middle fact-driven newspaper article.
I’m still willing to give Congressman Cardin some benefit of doubt. Not much - but some. Especially since I have also been the benefactor of the Sun’s dysfunctionate approach to journalism.
However I am quite deferential to Crablaw’s analysis – especially the pandering part.
Obviously many folks consider Cardin pandering or the story would not have grown the legs. In the business, it is referred to as a “paper cut in shark infested waters.” There is already a predisposition on the part of many folks to think the worst in response to what some consider a “gaffe,” but not a fatal error.
Thanks to Crablaw for weighing-in. Crablaw follows the politics of Cardin better than I and I found his post valuable.
E-mail him at: kdayhoff@carr.org
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