March 14, 2005

Juvenilia Watch

I missed this earlier as I was on the road, but wasn't this one of the most childish mastheads the New York Times has ever seen fit to print (ed. note: and we wonder why MoDo gets away with serial Dowdifications? Wonder no more!)? A few more of these and the editorial page will get just as bad as the (increasingly godawful) weddings section...

Particularly comical, at least as an insight into W. 43rd St-think, was how the masthead writers found this quote so prima facie shocking:

... and North Korea. In 1999, Mr. Bolton told The Los Angeles Times: "A sounder U.S. policy would start by making it clear to the North that we are indifferent to whether we ever have 'normal' diplomatic relations with it, and that achieving that goal is entirely in their interests, not ours. We should also make clear that diplomatic normalization with the U.S. is only going to come when North Korea becomes a normal country."

I mean, how could anyone not be in favor of diplomatic normalization with every country under the sun? How astoundingly bovine! That's always a good thing, right? Only a, er, "neo-primitive" (whatever that means--perhaps Jesse Helms but with a YLS degree and no southern drawl--and occasionally known to sup with Wolfy?) would dare think to the contrary...

what did the headline say?

your link leads to a login screen.

Posted by: willc2 at March 14, 2005 06:42 AM | Permalink to this comment

"The World According to Bolton."

Greg: Thanks for nailing the pertinent point -- the Times (and very many of America's political and diplomatic class, it seems) unquestioningly think of "diplomatic relations" as a good in themselves. The idiocy of this maddening creed can never be too often or too brightly illuminated.

Posted by: sammler at March 14, 2005 08:37 AM | Permalink to this comment

wasn't this one of the most childish mastheads the New York Times has ever seen fit to print?

Uh, how's that?

Posted by: Toadmonster at March 14, 2005 10:56 AM | Permalink to this comment

willc2-
The headline was "The World According to Bolton." While I understand Greg's disagreement w/ the TIMES editorial, I don't see how it's especially "childish." I mean, "Bolton's a Big Old Urinlateralist" woulda been much worse...

Posted by: B.R. at March 14, 2005 04:44 PM | Permalink to this comment

Yes, quite childish. But it's an editorial.

This is the masthead:

http://nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/masthead_newspaper.html

Posted by: Glenn at March 14, 2005 07:17 PM | Permalink to this comment