Tom Scocca

tomscocca (9:40:01 PM): How come Mitt Romney showing up in Denver means GOP Serious About Attacking Obama rather than Despised Has-Been Begs for Attention?

Chuck Schumer tells Jason Horowitz that the biggest failing of the Democrats in the Senate was allowing Sam Alito onto the Supreme Court. He speaks up (now that the election is over) about his support for a controversial Iraq strategy. And he talks about his upcoming Democratic manifesto, to be entitled "Positively American: Winning Back the Middle Class Majority One Family at a Time."

Tom Scocca catches up with Tom Friedman in China, and sees him tell a crowd of Chinese readers that the 2008 election will be about... China. (See, also, Tom Friedman's column today on China.)

Rebecca Dana writes about that weird Election Night exit poll quarantine room.

Joe Conason thinks Nancy Pelosi is too close to John Murtha.

Steve Kornacki thinks Pelosi's opponents underestimate her in-fighting ability at their peril.

And Sara Vilomerson and John Koblin write about the surprising direction in which Jim Dolan has taken the Knicks.

-- Josh Benson

From: Tom Scocca To: Choire Sicha Subject: Um...

From the NYT Mag ARTICLE with those pics:  read more »

"When the mayor came for a post-Katrina visit, Ranatza had the students draw their wishes for the city. They do not lack for colored crayons, yet they rendered New Orleans in sepulchral black and white."

If journalistic activities were sporting events, then surely counterfactual storytelling would be tee-ball: a simulation of the real thing with all the difficulty taken out of it, suitable for hapless children. And counterfactual storytelling about sporting events, of course, only threatens to compound the embarrassment. It leads the way to lame esoterica best suited for lonesome late-night sports radio. (If the "tuck rule" play had been upheld as a fumble, would the Raiders have been a football dynasty? If Jeffrey Maier had had his hands chewed off by ants in his crib, would Mike Mussina have ever gone to the Yankees?) The results are hackwork, space filler, a way of hiding from the realities of the here and now.  read more »

It is hard to say which is worse: to dwell on one's own athletic conquests, basking in the wan glory of an inherently ephemeral success, or to dwell on having been conquered, brooding over events that can never be reversed. Yet we also see the appeal of an approach that combines honest self-criticism with taking the judicious measure of one's foe.

In today's Observer, Tom Scocca has a really nice reported exegesis of the New York Times endorsement of Ned Lamont.

In the piece, Joe Lieberman's loyalists suggest that "the goalposts have been moved," but Scocca explains why it was more a matter of "Lucy Van Pelt yanking the football away from Charlie Brown yet again."

He notes, in particular, that the Times' decision is actually consistent with what they've written about Lieberman in the past - notably in 2000, when there were no fewer than three angry editorials taking him to task for his double-track candidacies for VP and Senate.

And, crucially, Scocca gets Editorial-page editor Gail Collins to talk about the cookies the Times served to the candidates up on 43rd Street.

-- Josh Benson

[Expert TK] Has Arrived   To the Editor:    read more »

...all look the same. From Boston, at least. You know they're going to love it over at the News and the Post that the Weld campaign has identified his sorta-endorsement from the News as an "NY Post editorial."

If you are interested in the difference between the two, check out the Observer's Media Mob, where Tom Scocca has been picking winners in the papers' "Wood Wars." Currently it's News 15, Post 14.  read more »

UPDATE: Now that's rapid response; the News editorial board contacted Team Weld at 3:41 to report the goof, and it was fixed as of 3:49. And yes, somebody (not me!) was keeping track.

Presented as an irregular public service by the Transom: a discussion with the New York Observer's Off The Record columnist Tom Scocca regarding the Thursday Styles section of the New York Times.

 read more »

Jess Bruder and I argue that Hillary's current campaign is of a piece with her run for President, noting that observers find it hard to imagine her spending the kind of money she set out to raise in New York alone.

Tom Scocca and his crew delve into the Miller crisis at the Times. And here's Joe Conason's take.  read more »

Nicholas Von Hoffman writes that a Miers appointment might not be the worst thing for liberals.

We have a primary round-up, along with:

Eve Kessler's take on Mike Gianaris;  read more »

And Tom Scocca's Freedom Walk.

We'll be updating The Politicker a bit less regularly today, as we recover from primary night and wait for a hard vote count.

To the Editor:    read more »

An hideously horribly overly long edition of Thursday Styles with Tom Scocca, a weekly recording of an IM conversation with Tom Scocca, the New York Observer's Off the Record columnist. Brought to you as a public service by your trusty Transom editor.

MediaTom: Well, have you read your Thursday Styles yet? TheTransom: You know, I've been really busy thinking, as a man, manly thoughts about what men want. MediaTom: Do tell. It seems to me, on first look, that men want George Clooney. TheTransom: Well, I think, yes. I like a man who earns over 100,000 a year, looks like George Clooney, and "is already living the life he wants rather than merely chasing it." Which, of course, is why I get aroused when I pass those RETARDED OFFENSIVE CITIBANK ADS on PHONE BOOTHS. So, as far as gay lifestyle porn goes?? i'm IN. MediaTom: Are those the Citibank ads that are like, hey, bank with us, we don't care about money? Like: McDonald's: You're Just Going To Shit It Out Eventually, Anyway? Yeah. It's like handing your checking account over to a fortune-cookie-writing company. TheTransom: YES. UGH. Goddam Citibank. But yes, really: Who is on the arm of Vogue readers? They're called HOMOS. We used to call them 'walkers.' But I digress. MediaTom: OK, the thing about Vogue for Men is this: the principal attractions that regular Vogue offers to the het male reader are (1) nipple photos, (2) the daft letters page, and (3) Jeffrey Steingarten. The Transom: Barbeque and hooters? That makes it sound like... Maxim, just much shorter! MediaTom: Surprisingly manly fare! Maxim with higher production values. Actually Maxim never contains nipple shots. Word to the wise, fellas! But Men's Vogue.. TheTransom: ...Has no women. Hence... no nipples? MediaTom: But they do have Jeffrey Steingarten. TheTransom: I know nothing about him. But I hear he's a right bastard. MediaTom: He's got a lovable writerly persona, though. Except the part of the persona that hangs out with Amanda Hesser's persona. TheTransom: That sounds like a horrible persona entanglement. So wait. I need to, need to, talk about Alex Kuzsnipski. Like, I might need to get my therapist in here too. MediaTom: "Call me the neurotic consumer." Neurotic? Can we call you the some other kind of consumer? TheTransom: She. Bought. A. Thank. You. Gift. For. A. Friend. That. Cost. 975. Dollars. HOW CRITICAL CAN THAT SHOPPING BE??? MediaTom: Hey, she put a hold on the $2,500 dress. Rather than buying it outright. The Transom: The problem is, I guess, I don't know, maybe I have Stockholm Syndrome with Alex Kuczwhatski because I start to admire her shopping by the end of the column. Wait, hold the phone. Suzy and I have to roam the streets for food. MediaTom: Thanks for the invitation. Bitch. Have fun, guys! TheTransom: YOU"RE INVITED! JESUS CHRIST. Were you a YOUNGEST CHILD? DON'T MAKE ME COME IN THERE AND BEAT YOU. MediaTom: I was 2nd of 2. Technically that makes me "younger."

Some Time Passes.

MediaTom: So anyway. Alex "Evita" Kuczynski declares "I hated 'Lost in Translation,' an admission that no doubt guarantees my exile from hipster America forever." Technically, to be in "exile" from a place, don't you have to have been there before? TheTransom: Well, we can't hold her good taste in husbands against her. BUT. This time I disagree with her shopping. The first daughter of Peru, set loose in Marc Jacobs, should at least come home with the servants bowed and stooped under her acquisitions. MediaTom: I was impressed when she denigrated a Marc Jacobs dress by imagining the smart-alecky comment that Us Weekly would get from a fashion panelist if a celebrity were ever to be photographed wearing it. TheTransom: See? Who says she's un-reflective?? MediaTom:"Don't blame me if this line isn't funny! I didn't say it! An imaginary person in a hypothetical scenario said it!" Maybe all her imaginary friends chipped in to buy the $975 satchel. TheTransom: No one ever bought me a thousand-dollar handbag to say "thank you." MediaTom: And Alex Kucznyski offends you EVERY THURSDAY! Where's your apology handbag? TheTransom: RIGHT? WHERE'S MY GODDAM APOLOGY HANDBAG, ALEX? More Time Passes.  read more »

MediaTom: Okay, I'm back. What about, "9/11: Light a Candle Or Party On?" Let me draw your attention to the "Or" in that headline in particular. Welcome to the down-to-earth world of reporters, Jodi Kantor! TheTransom: It's her first story on her new job! Of course she's being hazed by the headline writers. MediaTom: The best part is "But Dr. Eviatar Zerubavel, a professor of sociology at Rutgers, argues that as the years pass, the 9/11 commemoration will grow stronger." Because nothing makes a convincing take-the-temperature-of-society piece like a titled expert WILDLY SPECULATING ABOUT SOMETHING COMPLETELY UNKNOWABLE. The Transom: Oh, I liked the story. But you may be surprised to know that Dr. Zerubavel is the author of "The Seven-Day Circle: The History and Meaning of the Week." Which must be RIVETING. (Oh, God, actually? It probably is.) MediaTom: Jodi's Dr. Zerubavel (whom I nearly just abbreviated to "Dr. Z," which would have been a gross insult to the world's greatest football writer, Paul "Dr. Z" Zimmerman)--then goes on to point out that "it wasn't until 15 years after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. that his birthday became a holiday." Which would be a very clear precedent for future Sept. 11 commemorations--if we were CELEBRATING THE DAY DR. KING GOT SHOT. TheTransom: Well, there's the answer! We should celebrate the birthday of the World Trade Center! MediaTom: Exactly! Thank heavens we have degreed academic experts to explain to us how our society works. TheTransom: April 4, by the way. 1973. The World Trade Center ribbon-cutting ceremony. MediaTom: Wait . . . that's the date King got shot. April 4. The Transom: AGH MediaTom: Now I am very disturbed. TheTransom: Eeek. 1968. You're right. MediaTom: Huh. TheTransom: Herrm. MediaTom: Well. TheTransom: Anyway! MediaTom: Yes! But, you should join the Way We live Now staff! Man, they're like the Navy SEALs. A quick, mobile strike force. Ready to write a piece anywhere in the Times! TheTransom: Do they get to walk into people's offices and commando the front page of sections? I hope so. Do I get to do that too? MediaTom: Don't you? TheTransom: I dunno! I've never tried! Hold on, I'm going to march into the managing editor's office and seize some column inches. AHOY! THIS IS THE WAY WE LIVE NOW, BITCH! In fact, I'm anointing myself as the entire Way We Live Now elite cadre of the New York Observer. I'm going to get some olive-drab outfits! And a small handgun! MediaTom: Jumpsuits. Must have jumpsuits. TheTransom: Watch out, motherfucker. I'll seize your column, too. MediaTom: Be careful what you wish for. TheTransom: Why? Was Jodi Kantor careful what she wished for? Was Alex Kuzcrciplsky? WAS ANNA WINTOUR CAREFUL WHAT SHE WISHED FOR? MediaTom: Jodi tells us that at the U.S. Open on Sept. 11, "before the men's tennis final James Taylor will sing 'America the Beautiful.'" TheTransom: See? THAT'S THE WAY WE LIVE NOW! MediaTom: Can I ask you something? Who hasn't seen (1) fire and (2) rain? TheTransom: Well, until this winter, my 10-year-old cat had never seen fire. And only rain through a window. So maybe the song is about HOW CATS LIVE NOW. MediaTom: James Taylor: more profoundly experienced than a cat.

The first in a series of what will surely become a regular feature. Ladies and gentlemen, a peek inside office life with Mr. Tom Scocca, the New York Observer's Off The Record columnist. At right: Mr. Scocca's desk, in a photograph taken just now, while he was in a meeting. MediaTom: Did you read Thursday Styles? TheTransom: Ooo, I forgot! So exciting! I love Thursdays! MediaTom: So far there are two amazing things, of which I've read only one. The one I haven't read yet is "She's So Cool, So Smart, So Beautiful: Must Be A Girl Crush." TheTransom: Jeudsadfo4wljsesuwhst MediaTom: (Coming soon: Out for Drinks With Two Buddies: The Asexual Menage A Trois.) TheTransom: Totally. Hot. MediaTom: ANY INTERACTION BETWEEN TWO OR MORE PEOPLE RESEMBLES ANY SEXUAL INTERACTION BETWEEN TWO OR MORE PEOPLE ONLY WITHOUT THE SEX PART. TheTransom: My God. It's endless. Apparently ‘man dates' was just a warning shot. MediaTom: The one story that I did read was: The Lamb on the Runway: Will customers still love astrakhan when they learn where this fur comes from? MediaTom: Because, see, it comes from NEWBORN -- OR EVEN UNBORN -- LAMBS! MediaTom: UNBORN BABY LAMBS!!!!!!!! MediaTom: And they run around failing to find any outrage over this. TheTransom: That is truly awesome. MediaTom: Maybe people will become outraged if they learn. Because they seem to be confusing PETA with Operation Rescue. TheTransom: Does PETA still exist? Is it just Pam Anderson and her assistant now? MediaTom: Check it out: "That's just a little too much," said the designer Carmen Marc Valvo, explaining why he draws the line at using fetal lambs, although he has designed a $10,000 riding coat for Saks made of swakara, a trade name for karakul farmed in Namibia. "I have no problem working with furs," he said, "but the furs we use are baby lambs that are also raised for food. It's not like the indiscriminate killing of animals." MediaTom: Then: MediaTom: Mr. Valvo's recognition of a moral distinction between types of astrakhan is atypical in the fashion industry. Most designers working with the fur expressed no compunction about using the skins of unborn lambs or those a few days old, if indeed they understand the fur's exact origins. MediaTom: WHAT THE FUCK?  read more »

The Politicker has finally been overhauled by a professional designer and I'm now wincing at how clumsy my previous design was. While the main changes to this site are aesthetic (with a few tweaks yet to come) you'll also see a new search function on the right side of the page. The search function isn't working right now, but it will be in a week or two.

Bigger changes are afoot at the Observer. The Politicker welcomes a small pack of sister sites: The Real Estate, edited by Tom McGeveran; The Media Mob, edited by Tom Scocca; and The Daily Transom, edited by Choire Sicha.  read more »

Enjoy.

We depart from our usually tight focus to bring this dispatch from Tom Scocca, our media guy, who got his hands on a memo that probably wasn't sent to him:

This afternoon, New York Times executive editor Bill Keller announced that any story over 1,800 words must be approved by one of a trio of high-ranking editors before it's allowed into the paper.

Mr. Keller described the move in an internal memo as part of a campaign against endemic "bloat" or "flab"--stories that "sometimes feel slack or padded." Though he conceded in the note that budget concerns played some role, he wrote that "this is not primarily about saving space."

Mr. Keller wrote: "I'm talking, for the most part, about 1,200-word stories that could be told--better told--in 900 words....I'm talking about features that meander through an unnecessary and uncompelling anecdotal lede and get to the point in the fourth or fifth graph."

The 1,100-word memo is a little saggy around the middle itself -- "Complexity, nuance, competing viewpoints, important context, analytical connections, killer quotes, telling anecdotes...these are things that set us apart from TV, and from most other print publications." Only three paragraphs from the end does the editor deliver the news: Rick Berke, Craig Whitney and Marty Gottleib--Mr. Keller's designated length police--will have to sign off on any story that exceeds the 1,800-word limit.

Even showcase projects aren't immune from the length squeeze. There, the review process begins at the top of the masthead: "If a story seems likely to consume a full page or more of the paper, Jill [Abramson] or I should be consulted BEFORE the story is written," Mr. Keller wrote.

To prepare the Times for the new regime, here's Microsoft Word's AutoSummarized version of Sunday's 3,450-word page-one piece, "Two Women Bound by Sports, War and Injuries":

Specialist Green said, and the nurse nodded.

Specialist Green's left hand had been torn off.

The grenade exploded next to Lieutenant Halfaker's right shoulder. Receiving Star Treatment

In mid-July, Lieutenant Halfaker and Specialist Green met in the occupational therapy clinic.

Specialist Green introduced herself. Sometimes Specialist Green complained and Lieutenant Halfaker would say: ''Well, you have it better than me. Lieutenant Halfaker shied away from interviews, while Green rarely said no.''  read more »

Finally, Specialist Danielle Green was medically retired on Dec. 7. Not at Walter Reed.