This page describes the Orwellian experience I had reading the Wall Street Journal’s obituary for William Safire on 27 September 2009. I admired Safire’s writing and his style, and I think the WSJ did shoddy justice to both, in their article and in the way they handled my critique.
It started when I saw this Google summary:
I posted a comment on the WSJ web site twitting them on the irony of the grammatically poor first sentence. I wish I could show it here but it vanished — it must have been deemed doubleplusungood. See following. I didn’t belabor the other shortcomings of that awful sentence.
(I mean really — the 70s a dismal music decade?Even Frampton Comes Alive and Saturday Night Fever, for Gods sake. Furrfu! There was great, and fun, and great fun music. Now, as for fashion, I have no idea. But what a pointless, gratuitous, idiotic swipe.)
- Dark Side of the Moon
- Born To Run
- Who’s Next
- American Beauty
- My Aim Is True
- Wish You Were Here
- Bridge Over Troubled Water
- Aja
- Let It Be
- What’s Going On
- London Calling
- Blood On The Tracks
- Hotel California
- Excitable Boy
- Eat A Peach
- Running On Empty
- L.A. Woman
- Fear Of Music
- Machine Head
- Harvest
- Catch A Fire
- Tea For The Tillerman
- Dreamboat Annie
- Are We Not Men? We are Devo!
- Captain Fantastic & The Brown Dirt Cowboy
- Can’t Buy A Thrill
- Darkness On The Edge Of Town
- Into The Purple Valley
- Rust Never Sleeps
- Songs From The Wood
- B52’s
- Night Moves
- Tapestry
- Fleetwood Mac
- Animals
- Exodus
- Get The Knack
- Europe ’72
- Dire Straits
- Songs Of Love And Hate
- Bop Till You Drop
I then posted this comment. (My “it” was ambiguous: the screen shot I referred to was of the original article, not my response.) We’ll see if the second comment lasts in the public record. In any case, I think the WSJ flattered themselves in imagining that Safire had their back, just as they erred in thinking they had his.
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