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Russ Smith and Ellen Willis

the breakfast table
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from: Russ Smith

Gore's Hypocrisy; the Punditocracy

Posted Tuesday, Aug. 17, 1999, at 2:15 PM ET

ELLEN:

You lost me on your techno explanation, but my thanks for trying. In your opinion, what exactly is the "counterculture" today? If it's Fatboy Slim, and the others, and confined to that, I don't see the counterculture. Where does today's youth stand on politics, for example? Besides the communications breakthrough, what's today's equivalent of the sexual revolution, the feminist movement, etc.? Besides the tattoos and piercings, which are pretty standard, I don't see much that separates today's 25-year-old from today's 45-year-old. Please inform me, with a touch less of Greil Marcus.

I love e-mail too. It's so much more convenient than the phone, when you're not sure if someone's in and you trade voice mail. Also, in reporting, if your subject is willing, you can reproduce exactly what they've said, on record, so there's no dispute on misquotes. Although when I was sifting through some storage at Moishe's in Long Island City last week, I came across a trunk full of letters from college and high-school days. It's a cliche, but when was the last time you got a real letter? I know I never write them anymore. They're relics now, and will make for fascinating reading in future generations.

On Page 12 of today's New York Post there's a priceless photo of Rudy Giuliani at Saratoga. He's wearing shades, with a too-wide tie, grinning, with a flack by his side, looking for all the world like a don out of the opening scene in Godfather II, when Michael Corleone coughs up some dough for the state of Nevada and then has that immortal conversation with the shady senator.

I don't agree with your point yesterday that Gore himself is messing up his campaign. Yes, he's made a lot of dumb moves and gaffes and is spending money like Steve Forbes. And hiring Carter Eskew was positively Clintonian: After moving all those union delegates to tears with his speech about his sister in '96, it was an unbelievably hypocritical hire. But Clinton clearly doesn't want to leave office, and he's done his best to (I'm being charitable here) subconsciously sabotage his loyal soldier's campaign. Hillary herself is fucking (figuratively, I assume) Gore, too. She'd be a far better asset being on the stump for him and other Senate candidates, rather than sucking up money, media attention, and organizational skills for herself. It was Hillary who was responsible for re-electing Barbara Boxer last year; a plus for you, I'm sure, a nightmare for me.

I love your idea of combining the Kinsleys of the world into one awful outlet for conventional Beltway wisdom. It would save so much time. An example is here in New York: For months, the pundits, Democratic-leaning of course, predicted that Rick Lazio would run for Senate, thus bloodying Rudy for his slugfest with Hillary. That was stupid thinking. I don't care about the D'Amato/Pataki feud with Rudy; there was simply no way they'd resist the pressure from the Bush organization to unite behind the mayor. With a united GOP party in New York, Gore/Bradley is going to actually have to spend time in the state (same in California) instead of thinking of it as a gimme state.

I read Dick Morris' column in the Post today, and as usual he had some good points. He wrote that Bush is lucky to have Forbes as his chief opponent, because the publishing scion is too dorky to win, an assessment I agree with, although I'm a fan of his economic platform (although his pandering to Christians is just shameless). The problem with Morris is that you can't believe a word he says.

I also read today that the Voice will unveil a new design tomorrow. If editor Don Forst was smart, he'd unveil new content as well. But I'll get to that tomorrow. I'll be curious about your Voice nostalgia. One more question: What are your three favorite magazines? I'm sure you'll be horrified, but mine are the Weekly Standard, Vanity Fair, and The New Yorker.

Best,
RUSS

the breakfast table
entries
12345678910111213141516171819
from: Russ Smith

Gore's Hypocrisy; the Punditocracy

Posted Tuesday, Aug. 17, 1999, at 2:15 PM ET
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Russ Smith is the editor in chief and owner of New York Press, the Manhattan weekly he founded in 1988. He writes the column "Mugger" for the paper. Ellen Willis directs the cultural journalism program at New York University. Her latest book, Don't Think, Smile! Notes on a Decade of Denial will be published this fall.
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