One reason Hendrik Hertzberg is such a joy to read (even when you want to scream at him) is his use of metaphor. If you’ve read Tom Friedman for years, metaphors tend to put you into a defensive crouch. Sid Blumenthal served up a doozy in his book, “The Clinton Wars:”
Not only did [Clinton] have to navigate the vessel of state in a vast sea through unpredictable storms, but he had to build a safe harbor. His political ability to tack with the wind was usually interpreted as being rudderless. Even long-term policy gains – whether on the economy, crime or trade – were obscured because of short-term political losses. And Clinton himself, caught in the midst of howling winds, could not know whether and how much he was succeeding.
Sea-sick yet? Yes, there’s nothing so boring as a fully-extended metaphor. But Rick’s specialty is the meta-metaphor. He takes a hoary old saying and throws it around a little, like hackey sack. “Affirmative action is strong medicine, and, as with any strong medicine, no great distance separates the therapeutic dose from the toxic one.” Not bad. But this one’s a beaut:
In both cases [scandals at the New York Times and the Washington Post], the people at the top said the right things about accepting responsibility. At the Post, at least one head eventually rolled – but it rolled sideways, and it quickly rejoined its body and resumed its upward trajectory. (The head was that of Bob Woodward, who lost his job as metropolitan editor. He was immediately made assistant managing editor for investigations, the job he still holds.)
Hilarious. And at the same time, vicious.
The Dish 