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from: Katie Roiphe
to: Dwight Garner

The Clinton and Bush Administrations: Both Blinded by Hollywood's Lights

Posted Thursday, Feb. 21, 2002, at 1:52 PM ET

Who are these people?

Dear Dwight,

Maybe I should start watching the Olympics. There certainly seem to be some compelling characters: the glamorous French judge in her fur and the assertive little girl who keeps invading Michelle Kwan's personal space on the ice. Maybe, as you suggest, there might even be a sport to appeal to my sedentary lifestyle. ...

I think you are right about Danny Pearl. Aside from the obvious reasons for concern that would come into play no matter what he looked like, there is a more personal feeling at work. He does look like a college roommate. Well, not my college roommate, exactly, but someone's. He is such a familiar type, I have a warm feeling toward him, like I've known him for a long time. Thanks for clarifying that.

I was also struck by that article about the "reality TV" program about the GI. Why not just let the real reporters go in and talk to the real GIs? Wouldn't it be simpler and less costly? It's interesting to watch the ways in which the Bush administration is marshalling Hollywood and the networks into the war effort. (Remember when they consulted the Hollywood people over possible terrorist scenarios?) In some ways they are not so different from the Clinton administration in their admiration of and belief in the power of Hollywood and stage lights.

Till tomorrow,
Katie

the breakfast table
entries
1234567891011121314151617
from: Katie Roiphe
to: Dwight Garner

The Clinton and Bush Administrations: Both Blinded by Hollywood's Lights

Posted Thursday, Feb. 21, 2002, at 1:52 PM ET
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Dwight Garner is an editor at the New York Times Book Review. Katie Roiphe is the author of Still She Haunts Me.
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