NYT:Obstacles Don't Keep Kerry from Seaside Break (he's rich)

[DeepModem Mom]

Another story focusing on Kerry's wealth --


THE MASSACHUSETTS SENATOR
A Few Obstacles Don't Keep Kerry From Seaside Break
By JODI WILGOREN

Published: June 21, 2004


NANTUCKET, Mass., June 20 - Thwarted by fog, a flat bicycle tire and a tricky wind, Senator John Kerry spent most of a shortened Father's Day weekend secluded in HIS WIFE'S SEASIDE RETREAT here in one of the nation's most EXCLUSIVE SUMMER PLAYGROUNDS.

His BOEING 757 campaign plane was grounded in Washington on Friday night when the weather prevented landing at Nantucket's airstrip, WHICH HAS SEEN ONLY ONE JET OF SUCH SIZE BEFORE. Arriving late Saturday morning, his planned bicycle ride around the island was aborted after he discovered a bubble on his back tire. And on Sunday morning, he sped out to a remote beach in his stepson's POWERBOAT in hopes of kite-surfing, a new extreme sport, only to return home after half an hour without even zipping up his wetsuit.

"The wind died," Mr. Kerry, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, told reporters as he cruised by on the 32-FOOT CONTENDER, A GENTLEMEN'S FISHING VESSEL SAID TO COST ABOUT $150,000.

Mr. Kerry and his family did dine out Saturday night at the Pearl, WHERE SAUTEED YUZU-DUSTED DAY BOAT SEA SCALLOPS GO FOR $36, with his fellow senator from Massachusetts, Edward M. Kennedy, his wife, Vicki, and her parents. But on Sunday afternoon, he canceled a BEACHSIDE BRUNCH AT ONE OF THE ISLAND'S MOST EXPENSIVE RESTAURANTS, with aides explaining that his two adult daughters preferred a quiet meal at home....


http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/21/politics/campaign/21kerry.html

[colonel odis]

1. so why don't all the right-wing wannabe money-grubbers

lap this stuff up?

i guess being wealthy is only good if you manage to take that wealth and lose it, a la bush and his history in business. or build it with shady stock deals, as bush did with harken.

[Scairp]

7. I posted this in General

But it disappeared. I would like to know why?

[DeepModem Mom]

8. Check your messages, Scairp -- and repost

[Cronus Protagonist]

2. Ah, but the big question is...

Did he eat any French fries?

ANYBODY BUT BUSH

Click here for "ANYBODY BUT BUSH", and other fair and balanced yet stunning buttons, magnets and stickers

[Piperay]

3. Rich repukes are fine

but apparently Democrats are not supposed to be have money. :wtf:

[meow2u3]

17. You took the words right out of my mouth

CRABCO and the Repukes act as if they're the only ones allowed to have money, and here's why: the attitude that liberals shouldn't be allowed to have money dates back to the FDR era.

Rich Repukes accused FDR of being a "traitor to his class" just for using his wealth to lift the poor out of poverty--the proper, Christian thing to do! I don't remember my mom telling me this, but when she was a teenager, she told me FDR should have fired back by calling those rich Repukes traitors to their country!!!

[monarch]

4. At least he's not afraid to vacation among people!

The island is crammed with people (ordinary people) this time of year and the Heinz place is right in the middle of things.

[DeepModem Mom]

5. I had the same thought --

The press seems to have plenty of access to the Crawford ranch, but Bush never sees the townspeople, I don't think -- and I doubt anyone rubs shoulders with the reclusive Cheney around Wyoming --

[Ganja Ninja]

6. This is really fair and balanced.

I wonder what the Cheney's were doing on Saturday night? Probably the same thing they do every night. Trying to take over the world!

[BiggJawn]

9. So this is Rove's talking point for the week?

Similar story was aired on AP News. Making a big deal out of Kerry's vacation with the "Rich and Famous".

Wilgoren blew it. She missed the chance to tell us that Kerry found a defect on the tyre of his NINE THOUSAND DOLLAR custom bicycle!

And if Kerry had spent a week staying at a Motel Six and visiting Three Flags Over Podunk they'd had found something wrong with that, too.

I'm vacationing again in South Haven this year. Guess that makes me a Liberal Elitist, too, eh?

[DeepModem Mom]

11. A big point was made about the Clintons' not owning a house...

at all -- a negative point. (They didn't own a house because at the time Bill was governor of Arkansas, that job paid a pittance of a salary -- and they lived in the Governor's Mansion.) So, exactly what income bracket, if any, would meet with press approval for a Democratic candidate for President?

[BiggJawn]

22. What income bracket?

Probably $15,000 a year or less. THEN that might satisfy the RW press that the candidate is a TRUE "Man of The People"...

I recall that the RW was pounding on the "Clinton doesn't own a HOME" point trying to spin it into "He doesn't have any ROOTS" bullshit argument. iu was thinking about that this morning. Until he bought the Crawford pig farm in 2000, just exactly WHERE did the Shrub live? And Don't forget- Poppy's address in Texas was a condo in Dallas. The REAL "Bush Homestead" is in Kennebunkport, a community where I'm too poor to even drive through it....

[truthspeaker]

10. yep, not a regular working-class joe like George W. Bush

[Teaser]

12. Good Old Jodi Wilgoren...

She's nothing if not consistent.

[Scairp]

15. Oh yeah, she's a real PIP

I have AGAIN fired off another letter to the editor about Wilgoren. I would hope that anyone who can does so. She has no business covering the man who may very well be the next President,and it is irresponsible for the NYT to allow her to remain on this assignment. Her hatred for Kerry is so blatant, I just can't fathom why she is still "ON the Trail" after all of these months writing such biased pieces about him and his campaign. I'm sick of it and I urge everyone at DU to write the Times and tell them this is not an acceptable level of journalism.

[progressivebydesign]

29. PIP? You forgot the "M". N/T

[Judi Lynn]

32. Have you seen this link?

This page describes Wilgoren's efforts with some depth:

May 14, 2004
Wilgoren Shows Some Shame
A week spent on one topic, even a topic crucial to millions of Americans, is too much for Ms. Wilgoren. She skeptically swallows the latest RNC talking points and reguritates them for your reading pleasure.

Sen. Kerry has been staying on messsage this week when it comes to healthcare but yesterday Ms. Wilgoren devoted her column to RNC talking points about Sen. Kerry's reaction to the latest horrors coming out of Iraq. She mentions a conference call with the chairman of the BushCo CREEP, which provided the outline for her story. Why bother to think up stories on your own when Marc Racicot will write some for you.
(snip/....) (around mid-page)

http://casadelogo.typepad.com/factesque/jodi_wilgoren_nytimes/

I hope all the scrutiny is eventually going to pay off. She sounds like a demon in training.

[Scairp]

39. I knew it couldn't be just me......

.....and Bob Somerby (http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh062104.shtml) paying attention to the garbage that Wilgoren's been writing about Kerry. She horrible, plain and simple, and if the NYT doesn't take her off of the story after this, then they are just too corrupt to be taken seriously ever again.

I wonder, who would be her editor? Anybody here in the newspaper business who knows about these things? I have been emailing Daniel Okrent, the Public Editor, but I think contacting her direct boss would also be a good thing. If someone knows, please post it here.

[LizW]

13. Uh-oh, Sam Seder's gonna go ballistic

He's been on Wilgoren's ass all last week about her snide, superficial hit pieces on Kerry. For those not listening to Majority Report on AAR, Sam's running a campaign, "America Entertains Wilgoren" encouraging people to send in stuff to entertains her (old Gameboys, paint-by-number kits, coloring books, puzzles, etc.) so she won't be so bored by the Presidential election that she has to write superficial, snotty crap about Kerry.

[THUNDER HANDS]

14. remember, you're only rich if you're from the Northeast

If you're from Texas, you're a hard-working stiff and salt of the earth.

:eyes:

[emulatorloo]

19. Bush is not from Texas, he is from Connecticut. . .

not that I have anything against Connecticut. . .

[TahitiNut]

16. DimSon wouldn't survive an hour on Nantucket ...

... without 5,000 "security" people and a regiment of police isolating the entire island with blockades, cavity searches, and mass arrests of protestors.

[Ganja Ninja]

18. Kerry should have bought a pig farm for his photo op's.

Wilgoren would have nothing to write about then.

[liveoaktx]

20. Didn't * spend the weekend at Camp David?

Even if he was on one of his many, many, many vacays in Crawford, it ain't like BUSH is living in a tent down there. He has a plush house and his own private chef!

[kskiska]

21. What's the difference

between Nantucket and Kennebunkport?

[TahitiNut]

25. "Walker's Point"

There's no "Kerry's Point" or "Forbes' Point" in Nantucket. "Walker's Point" - named after a fascist banking profiteer.

Kennebunkport demographics:

Population (year 2000): 3,720
Median resident age: 46.0 years
Median household income: $54,219 (year 2000)
Median house value: $240,700 (year 2000)

Races in Kennebunkport:
* White Non-Hispanic (98.1%)
* Hispanic (0.6%)
Ancestries: English (25.0%), Irish (17.9%), German (11.4%), United States (10.2%), French Canadian (9.4%), French (9.1%).

Nantucket demographics:

Population (year 2000): 9,520
Median resident age: 36.7 years
Median household income: $55,522 (year 2000)
Median house value: $577,500 (year 2000)

Races in Nantucket:
* White Non-Hispanic (86.9%)
* Black (8.3%)
* Hispanic (2.2%)
* Other race (1.6%)
* Two or more races (1.6%)

[progressivebydesign]

27. The boat Kerry used wasn't paid for by Nazi money at least.. N/T

[gratuitous]

23. gratuitous Times: Imminent Terrorist Attack doesn't dissuade Bush

Despite a National Intelligence Estimate entitled "Bin Laden Determined to Strike in U.S.," President George W. Bush spent the month of August 2001 at his multi-million dollar ranch retreat, Prairie Chapel, near Crawford, Texas. Wearing $75 jeans, Mr. Bush drove around in his specially equipped $45,000 pick-up truck, talking to a herd of cows rented from a nearby rancher for $675 for a special photo opportunity. Mr. Bush, weary from his full-time job duties that he'd shown up for nearly three-fifths of the time, needed a month in Crawford to "re-charge" his $25 nickel-cadmium batteries. "Those Nintendo games don't play themselves," he remarked with his trademark boyish smirk.

Meanwhile, operatives for Al Qaeda were busy putting the finishing touches on their plan to bring down the World Trade Center towers and crash a plane into the Pentagon.

But Kerry took a long weekend for Father's Day!

[DeepModem Mom]

24. Good one, gratuitous!

Might I suggest sending your version of this story, showing clearly how risible their Wilgoren story is, to [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], and, of course, Mr. Okrent, our reader rep, at [e-mail].

[gratuitous]

30. Go right ahead

Thanks for your kind words. I've sort of had it with complaining to the media that be. If you'd like to copy-and-paste, or take a little time and improve on my slap-dash effort, be my guest, and go with my best wishes and good luck.

Sometimes the transparency of the prostitution is just too glaring not to comment on.

[progressivebydesign]

26. Would the assholes at NYT care to tally up Bush's Kennebunkport visits??

How about adding up Bush's own personal fortune? How about revealing the TRUTH about Bush's "pig farm"???? Are these hacks jealous? They are trying to paint Kerry as an elitist. The stories I've read in the past few days about Kerry, were nothing more than snide attack pieces... Why don't these fucking "journalists" do some REAL work?????

Hacks.

[yardwork]

28. It's that Jodi Wilgoren again. She can kiss my a$$.

Probably paid directly by the WH.

[skippysmom]

31. Hey Jodi

we get it -- his family has money. And the Bushes don't?

Just STFU, okay?

[Isere]

33. The Daily Howler hits "our Minnie Pearl of the NYTimes!"

Somerby is at his acid best, taking apart this egregious piece of pack journalism.

Go immediately to http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh062104.shtml

Regale yourself as Somerby offers a withering analysis of Jodie. Here's a sample to whet your appetite:

"..."Readers, when Minnie Pearl played this silly game, she did so as a crowd-pleasing joke. She stuck that silly price-tag on her hat—where it plainly didn’t belong—and wore it around as a bit of self-mockery. Today, Wilgoren puts tags where they don’t belong, too—but she does so to go after Kerry. But alas! This is the state to which the Times had descended in the past several White House campaigns (a fact you won’t often read in them “perfessional fellers’” web sites). In Wilgoren’s crabbed mind, Kerry simply has way too much money. Today, the Times’ crusading crackpot sets out to punish him for it........"

Thank goodness we have The Daily Howler and Media Matters! Now all we need is The Horse to get back in the saddle.

[Justitia]

34. "Will Gore 'Em" is soooo predictable

We Dean supporters put the smack down on her regularly during the primaries. Her "writing" is juvenile, at best, always devoid of any real substance. Paired with anti-Democrat zealotry, she is always the same blah, blah, blah, bullshit.

As soon as I saw the link title I knew it was down to two or three (ahem) writers.

The NYTimes should be ashamed to have such middle-school morons on the payroll, but my estimation of that publication has taken a severe nosedive and I expect no better of them any longer.

Will Gore 'Em is boringly transparent, the Times is negligent, yellow, or both for keeping her in ink.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

35. Too bad Nixon didn't shut them down when he had the chance.

[Justitia]

36. uhhhh, I don't know about that,

but, I think the paper should be judged by it's contributors, and this one is a very poor reflection of it's editors.

The NYTimes should be shamed over a good majority of what Wilgoren has written. Do you think they've noticed? Or do they approve?

[PROGRESSIVE1]

37. I like their editorial board, especially Krugman and Rich,

but their REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS are GOP shills!!!

God, how I would love a Left-Leaning "Moonie-Times"!

[Justitia]

38. I really like Krugman too, a very smart man -eom