Archive for the ‘Drivel’ Category

In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinion pieces in The Times. Gail Collins/George Speaks, Badly The Short Version: George is a loser. In her words: “Our credit markets are foundering, and all we’ve got is a guy who looks like he’s ready to kick back and start the weekend.” Score: A- (Acerbic) When even […]


In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinion pieces in The Times. Paul Krugman/Betting the Bank The Short Version: Economically, we’re fucked. In his words: “I’m more concerned that despite the extraordinary scale of Mr. Bernanke’s action — to my knowledge, no advanced-country’s central bank has ever exposed itself to this much market risk — […]


In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinion pieces in The Times. Gail Collins/Unwelcome Surprises The Short Version: Who knew? In her words: “Memo to future disgraced politicians: The nation has discussed this at length, and we do not want to see any more stricken spouses at the press conference. ” Score: B (Boring) We […]


In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinion pieces in The Times. Bob Herbert/Sharing the Pain The Short Version: More than ever, it sucks to be poor. In his words: “It is disgraceful that in a nation as wealthy as the United States, nearly a third of the people are poor or near-poor.” Score: D- […]


In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinion pieces in The Times. Paul Krugman/The Face-Slap Theory The Short Version: We’re in deep shit. In his words: “The only way the Fed’s action could work is through the slap-in-the-face effect: by creating a pause in the selling frenzy, the Fed could give hysterical markets a chance […]


In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinion pieces in The Times. Nicholas Kristof/Obama and the Bigots The Short Version: We must teach people not to be such crazy losers. In his words: “Likewise, with countless people today spreading scurrilous rumors that Mr. Obama is a Muslim, the most appropriate response is a denial followed […]


In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinion pieces in The Times. Bob Herbert/Confronting the Kitchen Sink The Short Version: Why is Hillary being so mean? In his words: “Why the Clinton forces would want to inject that poisonous bit of business into the campaign is a mystery.” Score: C- (Childish) It’s hard to believe […]


In which The Gay Recluse provides an alternative to this week’s more tedious and stereotypical Modern Love offering in The Times. By Ben Karlin and The Gay Recluse THE problem was Paolo. I met him at an Italian restaurant in my neighborhood in Brooklyn, where he was a devastatingly cute waiter and I a frequent […]


In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinion pieces in The Times. Paul Krugman/The Anxiety Election The Short Version: It’s the economy, stupid. In his words: “[Democrats] can contrast the Clinton boom with the Bush bust; they can make the case that Republican economic ideology, with its fixation on privatization and deregulation, helped get us […]


In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinion pieces in The Times. Gail Collins/Hillary’s Edge The Short Version: Pennsylvania is the new Ohio. In her words: “Then comes the kind of convention political reporters have dreamed about since we were little nerds in the third grade writing essays on the electoral college.” Score: A-(Amusing) We […]


In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinion pieces in The Times. Paul Krugman/Deliverance or Diversion The Short Version: Why did Obama have to come along and wreck everything? In his words: “Some progressives are appalled by the direction their party seems to have taken: they wanted another F.D.R., yet feel that they’re getting an […]


In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinion pieces in The Times. Frank Rich/McCain Channels His Inner Hillary The Short Version: Like Clinton, McCain cannot escape his support of the Iraq war, which is a losing proposition with the electorate. In his words: “The good news for the Democrats so far is that whatever Mr. […]


In which The Gay Recluse provides an alternative to this week’s more tedious and stereotypical Modern Love offering in The Times. “Me, My Daughter and Them” By Heidi Wendel and The Gay Recluse MY newest girlfriend, vintage four weeks, was spending her first overnight at our Upper West Side apartment en famille and didn’t know […]


In which The Gay Recluse takes a field trip to Harlem and makes the case that the city should rezone the shit out of 125th Street. Lately there has been a lot of press — from Curbed, The Times and others — about the city’s proposal to rezone 125th Street in Harlem. Much of this […]


In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinion pieces in The Times. David Brooks/Remembering the Mentor The Short Version: Even though he was a Nazi, I loved William F. Buckley. In her words: “Buckley was not only a giant celebrity, he lived in a manner of the haut monde.” Score: F (Foolish) In this column […]


In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinion pieces in The Times. Gail Collins/Hillary, Buckeye Girl The Short Version: Hillary can’t compete against Barack’s charm. (This may help her in Ohio.) In her words: “If Hillary is stumbling, it may be because there just isn’t any good path to take. ” Score: B (Benign) This […]


In which The Gay Recluse wonders if Deborah Solomon thinks we’re impressed. (Because we’re not.) Usually we skip Deborah Solomon’s weekly interview in the Sunday Magazine, in which the notoriously harsh and arrogant New York Times critic tersely interrogates a publicity hound hawking a useless book about the latest nonsense du jour. But this week […]


In which The Gay Recluse updates his informal but rather telling quantitative analysis of Modern Love, the weekly Style Section (of The Times) column in which openly gay writers almost never appear, and even less frequently describe a romantic relationship. This week’s piece: An April Fools’ Joke I Played on Myself Subject: A frat boy […]


In which The Gay Recluse provides an alternative to this week’s more tedious and stereotypical Modern Love offering in The Times. “The April Fools’ Joke I Played on Myself” by Jay Ruttenberg and The Gay Recluse MY boyfriend and I were descending into the Eighth Avenue L train subway station when I remembered it was […]


In which The Gay Recluse reads the usually dependable City Room and says wtf. Yesterday City Room crapped out an astoundingly bad (and factually inaccurate) propaganda piece called “Should All of 125th Street Be Declared Historic?” in which they discuss a “proposal” — until now, completely unheard of (and for good reason) — being put […]