On The Turning Away

As if to get its own back on the snub by New Line Cinema for premiering the over-buzzed Sex and the City in London on May 12, New York - which is arguably as big a star as the four Manolo-loving characters - has duly produced a kerfuffle this week.

First, thousands of ticket-holders were reportedly turned away by Radio City Music Hall; second, the self-proclaimed number one fan, who “traveled 10,000 miles from Singapore” and paid close to $20,000, was utterly disappointed. Adding salt to injury, critics slam the movie with scathing reviews: “screamy, garish and winsome.”

Well, not all is lost. At least not for what some call the attention-whore, a Chinese Chick at Harvard, who seems to relish being called out by Gawker for “oversharing” her post-BJ “facial” picture. If she thinks she is and can be sexually liberated, like the SATC women, she’s hopelessly at it, for writing about sexual exploits is nothing if not anachronistic.
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Buried in the headlines of “decisively” or “barely” are the intrigues, à la hanging chads circa FL 2000, in Lake County, or specifically Gary, Indiana, last night, and perhaps more importantly, the psychology of the holdup.

In terms of media narrative, Obama camp won hands down. Several hours after Sen. Obama’s victory speech, networks and cable channels still could not call Indiana. Jeff Toobin on CNN and Bob Beckel on Fox News both regaled us with Gary’s dubious reputation in vote-counting that was attributed to the Chicago style politics.

Then Mayor of Gary had this to say: “I don’t know what the numbers are yet, but Gary has absolutely produced in large numbers for Obama here.” “Curious” seemed to the consensus of CNN pundits, whereas Brit Hume uttered “fraud” in the age of “new” politics - the word ricocheted through the blogosphere.
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FT’s Clive Crook is known for his relentless logic and measured voice, but his argument that “rules have changed” in Election 2008, sadly, wears thin.

He reckons that because of the unique characteristics of candidates, a Black, a Woman, and a “very odd Republican”, the “demographic slice” and “swing state” rules of the old partisan playbook no longer apply. This is not entirely convincing, not the least in that, barring a landslide in both Indiana and North Carolina primaries tomorrow, Obama has yet to show he can attract the white working class voters en masse.

Over the last half century, as David Brooks, ever insightful on everything sociological, points out that the “social divide” - between the Creative Class and the non-Bobos - has “overshadowed regional differences”, thanks to the democratization of higher education. Thus the “ensuing segmentation has reshaped politics”.
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Wit has truth in it; wisecracking is simply calisthenics with words.
- Dorothy Parker (1893-1967)