Media-Whore D'Oeuvres



"Is South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham the new William F. Buckley? When William F. Buckley founded The National Review, that smug, anglophilic conservative monthly, he made a point of publicly disowning the racists, the anti-Semites, the borderline psychotics and the know-nothing conspiratorial hacks populating the right side of the American political spectrum after the Second World War. While we may not agree with Buckley's neo-medievalism, there was a sense of political seriousness allied with a noble risk in the act of casting off the putrid paleoconservative postwar detrius that ought to be respected. In the past year, however, the Birthers and Bachmans and teabagging knuckledraggers have returned with a vengeance, like some resilient species of bio luminescent fungi. Disturbingly, few voices within the Republican party seem to have the courage to rise up take them on." (Ron Mwangaguhunga/AirAmerica)



"Last night at Doyle New York, the auction galleries on 175 East 87th Street, they held an opening reception for the benefit of the New York City Opera of the Estate of Beverly Sills. The auction itself will be held on next Wednesday, October 7th. Beverly Sills was possibly the first opera diva to popularize Grand Opera for the American people through her television appearances on Johnny Carson where the audience met an effervescent, cheerful personality whose nickname was 'Bubbles' and whose laughter was contagious. One of a group of photographs, including Sills in La Traviata, 1971, costume by Jose Varona, as well as I Puritani, and Faust, plus Sills with Frank Sinatra, James Levine, her husband Peter Greenough and others. Estimate: $100 - $200. That ebullience belied a deeply committed artist as well as a woman who knew heartbreak in motherhood first hand." (NYSocialDiary)



"'We're not doing it for ratings,' said Sean McManus. It was the afternoon of Friday, Sept. 25, and Mr. McManus, the president of CBS News and Sports, was on the phone with The Observer talking about an upcoming, multi-day initiative at CBS News, which will focus on the state of the war in Afghanistan. For three straight days, beginning Monday, October 5, Katie Couric will essentially toss aside the typical format of the CBS Evening News and devote the bulk of each night's minutes to explaining where America's war in Afghanistan is headed eight years in. 'All the research shows that when you do stories on wars, normally, that doesn't spike the ratings," said Mr. McManus. "We just think it's important, as a news organization, to do this.'" (Observer)