Archive for the ‘The Times’ Category

In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinion pieces in The Times. Bob Herbert/Losing Our Will The Short Version: The war in Iraq, recession, decaying infrastructure — OMG, we’re so fucked! In his words: “It’s both tragic and embarrassing.” Score: D- (Depressing) Herbert is not necessarily wrong about anything he says, but he’s not right, […]


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: The Plain, Unmarked Box Arrived Subject: A women and her husband buy […]


In which The Gay Recluse provides a gay (but frankly, equally boring) alternative to this week’s Modern Love offering in The Times. Those looking for our quantitative analysis should click here. The Plain, Unmarked Box Arrived By LORI JAKIELA and THE GAY RECLUSE Published: April 13, 2008 THE night we ordered the sex chair, we’d […]


In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinion pieces in The Times. Paul Krugman/Health Care Horror Stories The Short Version: Health care is a disaster! (Barrack blows, vote for Hillary!) In his words: “You may think that this was an extreme case, but stories like this are common in America.” Score: D (Dour) We’re not sure […]


In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinion pieces in The Times. Gail Collins/Pinochle Politics The Short Version: I’m bored with politics. In her words: “Setting aside six weeks of preparation for the Pennsylvania primary turns out to have been a little excessive.” Score: B- (Boring) We agree with Collins that the Democratic primary is […]


In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinions in The Times. Maureen Dowd/Toil and Trouble The Short Version: The Senate hearings on Iraq were a tragedy of Shakespearian proportions. In her words: “You know you’re in trouble when Barbara Boxer is the voice of reason.” Score: A (Awesome) Great Dowd! Effective allusions to Macbeth, hilariously crushing critiques of […]


In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinions in The Times. Bob Herbert/A Different Kind of Election The Short Version: Even racist Democrats might vote for Obama given how much they hate Bush! In his words: “The table is set for the Democrats.” Score: B- (Basic) Nothing here to disagree with, but nothing you haven’t heard […]


In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinions in The Times. Paul Krugman/Grains Gone Wild The Short Version: Add soaring costs of food to the list of ways in which we are completely fucked. In his words: “Oh, and in case you’re wondering: all the remaining presidential contenders are terrible on this issue.” Score: D+ […]


In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinion pieces in The Times. Frank Rich/Tet Happened, and No One Cared The Short Version: McCain is a big fucking idiot. In his words: “The sum total of his public record suggests that he could well prolong the war for another century — not because he’s the crazed […]


In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinion pieces in The Times. Gail Collins/White Guys Are Back The Short Version: Barack and Hillary are chasing after the undecided demographic. In her words: “The candidates have already resigned themselves to wooing people with political attention deficit disorder.” Score: B- (Blah) Some days we love Collins’ brand […]


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: When The Chutney’s Gone Subject: A very frightening woman describes a soulless […]


In which The Gay Recluse provides a gay alternative to this week’s Modern Love offering in The Times. Those looking for our quantitative analysis should click here. When The Chutney’s Gone (or Before I Came Out as a Lesbian, I Was the Worst Kind of Scary Sadshaw) By SUZANNE FINNAMORE and THE GAY RECLUSE Published: […]


In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinion pieces in The Times. Paul Krugman/Voodoo Health Economics The Short Version: The Maverick is an idiot. In her words: “[T]he McCain health plan — actually a set of bullet points on the campaign’s Web site — is entirely based on blind faith that competition among private insurers […]


In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinion pieces in The Times. Gail Collins/A Black Hole Rating System The Short Version: Well, these are not exactly the best of times. In her words: “Let’s prioritize. Rank all your causes for concern on a scale of: ! (unfortunate development) to !!!!! (Large Hadron Collider has a […]


In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinion pieces in The Times. Maureen Dowd/The Hillary Waltz The Short Version: Whoever wins, the battle has been good for Democrats. In her words: “One of the most valuable lessons the gritty Hillary can teach the languid Obama — and the timid Democrats — is that the whole […]


In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinion pieces in The Times. David Brooks/Pitching with Purpose The Short Version: The key to life (and baseball) is mental discipline. In his words: “Not long ago, Americans saw the rise of a therapeutic culture that placed great emphasis on self-discovery, self-awareness and self-expression.” Score: D (Destroyed) Although we […]


In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinion pieces in The Times. Paul Krugman/The Dilbert Strategy The Short Version: Any “reform” of the financial markets proposed by the Bush administration is a joke. In his words: “Oh, and the Bush administration actively blocked state governments when they tried to protect families against predatory lending.” Score: […]


In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinion pieces in The Times. Frank Rich/Hillary’s St. Patrick’s Day Massacre The Short Version: Why is Hillary such a lying liar? To cover up her Iraq vote, of course! In his words: “Incredible as it seems, the professionals around Mrs. Clinton — though surely knowing her story was […]


In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinion pieces in The Times. Paul Krugman/Loans and Leadership The Short Version: When you look at policy proposals, McCain is a Nazi, Clinton is progressive and Obama (who annoys me just because) is less progressive. In his words: “McCain is selling the same old snake oil, claiming that […]


In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinion pieces in The Times. Gail Collins/The Uncle Al Election The Short Version: Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are politicians; ergo they act like politicians. In her words: “There isn’t a right or wrong to this argument — only strategy.” Score: A- (Aware) Although we’re not always in […]