I have always been puzzled by the notoriety of George Will. His writing is pompous, self-important, obtuse, and almost always off in defense of whichever Republican is in or near the white House. He has a history of dishonest journalism, kissing up to Republican presidents and slapping down anyone suggesting there are wrongs to be righted. He once wrote a speech for President Reagan and then complimented Reagan on the speech in a TV news broadcast – forgetting to mention that he was its author; he writes silly, yuppie sports columns on his adorable Chicago Cubbies, and he is one of the last defenders of the current President. Recently he turned into a Miss Manners, commenting on the egregious sins of Senator-elect Webb who refused to follow the George Will Book of Polite Suck Ups in dealing with President Bush.
I am grateful to one John Hanchette for alerting me to a recent Will column. Hanchette’s aptly-named piece, PRISSY PANTYWAIST GEORGE WILL POUTS OVER WAR HERO’S OFF-THE-CUFF REMARKS, appeared in a weekly, the Niagara Falls Reporter, and is a wonderful and entertaining description of Will’s foibles as a journalist, analyst and writer. Read it and laugh.
It is unfortunately symptomatic of the state of American journalism that a solid criticism of Will appears in a small weekly while the big boys and girls of media go about the business of slapping each other on the back. Will pontificates in sanctimonious terms in Newsweek, the Washington Post and on Sunday morning TV talk shows. He is a triple threat polluter.