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Thursday, June 12, 2008

Going down with the Titanic or getting into a lifeboat
Posted by Jill | 8:38 AM
Joan Walsh, freed of her task of crying "foul!" because the rules weren't being bent to ensure Hillary Clinton's nomination, can now focus on the travesty that is media coverage of the campaign we face this fall:

I know a lot of Democrats are worried that, with Hillary Clinton out of the race, her media critics will fall out of love with Barack Obama and remember that their hearts belong to John McCain. There's plenty of time for that, but I've seen no evidence yet. Today on "Hardball" Chris Matthews set up the November contest as a decision between whether to stay on the Titanic with McCain or get into a lifeboat with Obama. Is that really a choice? The loyal Pat Buchanan said he'd go down with the ship, but I don't see a lot of other people joining him.

[snip]

Matthews did point out that a lot of people chose to go down with the Titanic rather than jump into lifeboats, as though that was a possibility that could buoy McCain in November. I noted that the problem was really that the doomed ship didn't have enough lifeboats -- a point he granted me, remarkably. Obama has room for everyone who wants to row in a different direction, and McCain is making their choice easier by the day.


The Titanic example is a bad and unfortunate one, though perhaps not as bad as it would have been a few years ago when James Cameron's movie was still fresh in people's minds. Cameron's movie is still available on DVD, and even without the film, Rivetmania predated the film and will continue forever. Still, it's an example that should be discouraged, because far from creating a "life vs. death" choice, or even a "smart vs. stupid" choice between Obama (smart, lifeboat and rescue) and McCain (stupid, stubborn refusal to admit the truth), if the talking heads of the media are allowed to continue this, we'll end up with the metaphor being Obama as the fictional "Cal Hockley" figure in Cameron's film and the real Bruce Ismay, first class "elitists" weaseling their way onto a lifeboat, and John McCain as the noble, tortured Thomas Andrews, meticulously setting the clock as he prepares to go down with the ship he loves so dearly.

A better metaphor would be a car headed towards a "road closed" sign, behind wihich is a 100-foot sheer drop cliff ending in roaring rapids below. The car being driven by a shitfaced drunk George W. Bush, with McCain in the passenger seat and Obama (heh) in the back seat, and McCain and Obama are arguing over who should take the wheel. McCain is arguing that the drop isn't really all that bad, they just need someone who's sober to continue driving in the same direction, and Obama is saying the only way they can be saved is if they change direction.

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