CULTURE

The Ur-Text of a Tabloid Age

It's high season for the National Enquirer, one of the strangest and most dangerous creatures in the American media menagerie.

By Jonathan Mahler | NEWSWEEK
Published Sep 20, 2008
From the magazine issue dated Sep 29, 2008

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  • Posted By: sickened @ 09/26/2008 8:38:35 PM

    sorry , I just read my post and realized that I didn't follow the rule of i before e except after c. Conceived was spelled wrong. Also responsibility was spelled correctly twice and incorrectly once.
    Is this an example of good reporting ?
    Well the final comment is ,I don't have a Princeton degree and I occasionally mispell words or hit a wrong key.
    I can however make a speech about something I believe in and Unlike Obama I could do it without a teleprompter ( is that o or e) and somehow I have managed to get a good grip on the meaning of the word responsibility . I also know the difference between right and wrong. Abortion is murder, and murder is wrong. It's wrong to follow a leader who condones wrong.
    These comments were made by the way in response to another readers comments about the reporting of Palins' daughters pregnancy being reported and their comment that if it had been Obamas daughter it would still be in the investigation phase

    • Posted By: ccseater2 @ 09/26/2008 9:23:45 PM

      in a world where 40 people are taking out of the medicare/medicaid social assistance bucket.... think about this and remember it in 10 years when we are in another crisis like this housing market.... how can you say that abortion is wrong or immoral. people are having unwanted "accidents" just to suck on the teat of free food ,housing, and health care so if u and ur born-again constituents want to continue for providing for these people but when u retire and have nothing to fall back on because you have paid for others to live for free you deserve to be the greetwer in wal-mart/ . if you cant care for and pay for your child to be in this world please abort it.

      • Posted By: Here we GO @ 10/16/2008 9:03:12 AM

        We must be so blessed to find that most people would like to say they aborted their children. Yeah, I think the IQ has suddenly dropped for CCSEATER2. Fetus is greek for BABY. Does planned parenthood want you to know other slight's of hand? They will be out of a job and you will be sad because you or your girlfriend can not go and kill another baby. Who are you to tell someone to kill their baby? It's similar to someone saying "kill joe" or "kill . . . . (whatever your name is)" You, of all people, don't know what you are talking about. My wife has patient after patient come into her office that are "post-abortion". She works at a university clinic, by the way. The attitudes of these "kids"(Their lack of good decision making has shown their immaturity) is very selfish. They tend to not care about the provider or the nurses who are there to help them deal with their own health. Many of these kids have been seen more than once by my wife about multiple abortions. Did I mention that my own wife is with child also? So these kids come in and say I aborted at such and such weeks...the same week that my wife is in at that time...and my wife wonders....how can anyone abort a child who can hear, kick, pump it's own blood, and respond to light?
        The answer is that the one getting the abortion decides when the child becomes a child. It's sad. Considering that in the future, if they are able to have a baby, they will be at the same term as the aborted baby and will consider it "real" and "their baby" this time because they want to keep it. I know that if my child were "killed" due to an act of created violence toward my wife, I may kill them. I love my unborn child already more than these selfish people love their lives. When you love your life that much it becomes an issue of pride. How selfish. All of this and it's impossible to adopt a child in the U.S.A. Why? Because you are killing them. If you harm any of these little ones, It would be better for you to have a mill stone put around your neck and to be thrown into the sea than for you to face what will come to you later. If you can tell me who's quote that last line was, then you are at least aware of the depth of battle this is.

      • Posted By: sickened @ 09/26/2008 11:58:43 PM

        HOW ABOUT JUST BEING RESPONSIBLE AND TAKING PRECAUTIONS NOT TO GET PREGNANT IN THE FIRST PLACE. aND, HOW MANY OF THESE ABORTIONS DO YOU THINK YOU ARE PAYING FOR TO BE DONE FOR WEFARE MOTHERS?

    • Posted By: washchadblip @ 09/26/2008 9:38:29 PM

      So, is war murder? Did you vote for Bush? Does that make you a murderer?

      I think so.

      • Posted By: sickened @ 09/27/2008 12:02:44 AM

        Enter Your Comment
        NO WAR IS NOT MURDER, BUT MAYBE YOU WOULD PREFER THAT CERTAIN FACTIONS CAME OVER HERE AND MURDERED MANY MORE THAN WERE MURDERED ON 9/11.

  • Posted By: washchadblip @ 09/26/2008 8:19:56 PM

    Sickened, you're a monster.

    • Posted By: sickened @ 09/27/2008 12:18:22 AM

      Enter Your Comment
      Really am I? That's a strange comment from a person who condones a couple selfishly indulging in a sexual act that conceives a child then ripping it from the womb somtimes almost at the point of being born.. There are very few " accidents" If you have unprotected sex the chances are you will get pregnant . That's not an accident. An accident is something that could not have been prevented. If you purposely stick your hand on a hot stove you will get burned . Do you unhook the stove and throw it in the dump because you got burned, or do you have sense enough to not stick your hand on the hot stove? Didn't you learn about cause and effect in grade school? If you indulge in unprotected sex you may get pregnant .So your solution to something that could have been prevented is to dimis something as valuable as a human being? I'd like to ask again what is wrong with just saying I don't want the child and I don't want it to " suck off the tete of free food and housing either so ..... get ready here's an ephany put it up fo adoption for a couple who can't have children of their own and who would support it gladly with their hard earned money. Too much trouble huh? Who's the monster?

  • Posted By: GG1000 @ 09/26/2008 11:39:59 PM

    A Presidential candidate's extra-marital affairs ARE news. If reporters feel they have a duty to the public, then surely the public has the right to know that a person they may be thinking of voting for is immature, arrogant and has poor impulse control. While I don't require my candidate be a saint, an extra-marital affair is the action of someone who only cares about himself, and is not able to empathize with the pain it will cause his family, nor able to look into the future and envision the possible repercussions of his actions. Not good traits in any elected leader, let alone a President.

  • Posted By: TamiMI @ 09/21/2008 7:41:10 PM

    Some of these comments are absolutely ridiculous. Of course Obama isn't a Muslim; he attends a Christian church -- or don't all of you conspiracy theorists remember Rev. Wright? Maybe you all could resurrect Joe McCarthy. He saw Communists under every rock and hidden inside every logical, non-reactionary American. The Enquirer isn't bound by the threat of (Gasp!) being Mainstream Media, so they are able to really dig on some of the candidates like Palin. By the way, when did being mainstream, which means the majority of Americans follow it or trust it, become such a slur? Oh, I know! When people started listening to the rubbish that pours out of ideological idiots like Rush's mouth. Do some actual (and factual) research, analyze the information both for and against your belief, and then make a logical decision. Seems to me, supporting a candidate whose 2nd in command has absolutely no foreign policy experience, touts her religious beliefs - which include believing people who talk in tongues, no less - and wants to take away basic rights from women is short sighted and illogical. Then again, I am one of those "liberal elites." How can I possibly be right (and educated.....)

    • Posted By: shrekmama @ 09/26/2008 10:41:06 PM

      No -- you are educated -- but how can we select a president who has NO foreign policy??.... and who selected a vice who is dead weight. Palin got some blood going. Biden is snoring.

    • Posted By: tallccm @ 09/23/2008 12:55:11 PM

      In response to TamiMI, let's talk about women's rights and equal pay. I have lived it. The Democrates have been working toward equal pay since 1970, when are they going to get this finished. I cannot believe that they are now touting this as a campain slogan... is the left absolutely nuts, let's point out a blantant failure. When I signed up for the women's movement in the 70s, it was about equal pay and the right to chose. My personal believe is that abortions are going to happen, legally or illegally, then they need to happen within the first trimester (unless her life is in danger) under the care of a medical professional. Now, the movement has taken this to a whole new leve, partial birth and letting live babies born as a result of botched abortions die on cold, stainless steal tables. How can anyone look in themselves in the mirror and say that this is ok?

    • Posted By: chicago blurbs @ 09/21/2008 9:17:11 PM

      Well to answer your question Tammi, you can't possibly be right, mainly because you are one of those liberal elites. Speaking of talking in tongues, what language was the Rev Wright speaking when he so eloquently rejoiced in the chickens coming home to roost after 9/11? Wasn't American, maybe liberal? Did you undertstand it?

  • Posted By: SallyV77 @ 09/23/2008 4:27:59 PM

    I used to think the Enquirer was a bunch of lies back when they were saying Princess Di and Prince Charles were having problems. It was every week. On and on. Everyone else was denying it. Then all of a sudden, they are getting a divorce. Say what you want, but a lot of their crazy stories are true.

    • Posted By: shrekmama @ 09/26/2008 10:30:58 PM

      I am more willing to believe the Enquirer than "mainstream media". Princess Di, remember Michael Jackson's wedding to daughter Presley, Clinton, and all the other 'inconvenient truths"! I'll wait until they prove global warming before I believe in that BS that is just about power & money. I believe in conservation (yes, I recycle) but now THEY want to 'manage' my life with this 'global warming' claims that good scientist don't believe (by the way they get smeared really quick by our "main stream media"!!! like that guy who was a famous atheist and when he came to believe that DNA, etc., is so awesome that the only way to explain it is through some 'intelligent being'... vs. randomness he got thrown to the waste-side). Oh, I forgot our beloved 'green' celebrities plant more trees when they fly their jets from place to place when commercial planes would be more efficient! Hypocrisy....

  • Posted By: sickened @ 09/26/2008 7:36:44 PM

    Are you kidding? I doubt you'd ever hear about one of Obamas' Children being pregnant. He and his lovely wife would have them wisked away and secretly aborted . No, I take that back . They would probably have her aborted and then announce it proudly and set themselves up as an example of tolerance and good parenting for helping their child not to have her life ruined or be inconvenienced by an unwanted pregnancy. Please, let's do follow their example and forget responsibility . If you cannot teach your child to take responsibility for the life of a child that they have concieved, (barring rape of course) and you are condoning the murder of that unborn child for the selfish comfort of the pregnant mother I cannot concieve of you being the type of president >that could take responseability for a nation. I do want to make sure I have this right. Did Obama not say that if one of his daughters got pregnant he would approve of an abortion because he didn't feel that she should be punished with an unwanted child? I guess the poor unborn child shoud be punished with death for having been concieved . How dare it inconvience mom, or grandma and grandpa. By the way even in the case of rape there are many childless couples that would love to take the unwanted child. Oh I guess that wouldn't work either how could we possibly expect a woman to allow herself to be punished for the nine months that it would take to bring the pregnancy to term, go through labor and take the trouble to sign her name to an adoption agreement.

  • Posted By: jimi99 @ 09/26/2008 5:43:33 PM

    A great movie on this subject is "Scandal Sheet" starring Burt Lancaster, about how the tabloids wreck lives not only of their subjects but also sometimes the people working for them.

  • Posted By: ben richards @ 09/26/2008 4:15:16 PM

    If we are to take the Enquirerer seriously, then it is true that Bill Clinton is really a space alien. Right?

  • Posted By: ben richards @ 09/26/2008 4:12:17 PM

    Does that mean that Bill Clinton is really a space alien?

  • Posted By: ben richards @ 09/26/2008 4:10:46 PM

    Does that mean that Bill Clinton is really a space alien?

  • Posted By: DaveCat84 @ 09/26/2008 1:47:31 PM

    NBC, Newsweek and the rest of the MSM sat on this story while Edwards was seeking his party's presidential nomination. Need any more be mentioned about journalistic bias and competence?

  • Posted By: DaveCat84 @ 09/26/2008 1:44:59 PM

    NBC and the rest of the MSM sat on this story while Edwards was ACTIVELY seeking his party's presidential nomination. Need there anymore be said?

  • Posted By: johnboywalton @ 09/26/2008 12:24:44 PM

    The Enqirer prints negative news regardless of party.The mainstream media only prints negative news about Republicans and covers for Democrats wrongdoings ,unless someone else leaks it Enqirer.

  • Posted By: johnboywalton @ 09/26/2008 12:22:39 PM

    The Reason the Enquirer prints it first simple: Unlike the mainstream media who tries to cover up ANY negatives about Democracts,Liberals.The enquierer prints it all. The mainstream only prints or looks for negatives about Republicans,or spins it that way.

  • Posted By: zeke123 @ 09/26/2008 9:29:07 AM

    Why in the world would taxpayers want to "bail out" Wall Street when we have a school system which needs Bailing out badly and is is worse shape than Wall Street. Wall Street bailout gives us no guarantee for a better future, but the education of young Americans certainly does.

  • Posted By: KDaynJax @ 09/25/2008 3:44:52 PM

    There were some very dicey stories about Obama early on--even dicier than those you mention here. Just thought you might like to have mention of that in your notes.

    Kay B. Day
    The US Report

  • Posted By: Danielj155 @ 09/23/2008 4:29:11 PM

    Over 905 or more if anything is untrue or sensationalized. Bat boys, three inch children, freeze dried babies. Then when they try to verify it, the evidence suddenly dissappears. The authors make no attempt to verify anything so anyone with a wild imagination can make money with these bird cage papers

    • Posted By: thehappyamerican @ 09/23/2008 8:03:18 PM

      Like ..newsweek!

  • Posted By: PresidentSupporter @ 09/23/2008 5:26:58 PM

    Just like all newspapers, news shows, and internet news, the Enquirer's stories should be read with caution. No matter who is reporting, misinformation and personal bias can cloud the truth and facts. I just don't believe anything from the media, unless it has been proven to be fact by all sources. Until that point, I take all news lightly.

    The Vietnam and Iraq wars have proven very emphatically that news sources have very little substantiated truth. Most news is just fluff, meant to bring "shock and awe" to the audience. If you want to know the absolute truth about wars, ask some soldiers who were there. If you want to know absolute truth about breaking news, ask the people who were there. Otherwise, it's all going to be fed to you down the line with each person's interpretation influencing the outcome.

  • Posted By: slim1001 @ 09/23/2008 3:54:54 PM

    We can reach the 50mpg threshold, many Volkswagon cars are already near there, using Diesel engines, Ford has a car that gets 65mpg for sale in Europe right now but will not sell it here because their studies show people in the US do not want to use Diesel. But we will see, Japanese auto makers plan to introduce some Diesel cars this year

    • Posted By: PresidentSupporter @ 09/23/2008 5:18:14 PM

      A little off subject, but thanks.

  • Posted By: buddhababy @ 09/23/2008 3:08:57 PM

    When you surround yourself with filth, lies, gossip, and yellow journalism, why does it surpise you that you feel dirty? You ARE dirty. Surround yourself with beauty, kindness, generosity and justice and your life will become clean. You are what you eat. Eat well.

    • Posted By: PresidentSupporter @ 09/23/2008 5:16:26 PM

      You've been eating the funny mushrooms, haven't you?

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