By Michael Miner
The Morris scandal mesmerized the Times. Whether the nominal subject was Clinton’s speech, the politics of Clinton’s speech, the delegates’ reaction to Clinton’s speech, the TV coverage of Clinton’s speech, or the 16-minute tribute to Clinton preceding Clinton’s speech, Dick Morris is what gripped the correspondents. They filled the paper with yeasty phrases like “a frantic tailspin of damage control,” “long day of political anxiety over the sensational news,” “sex-scandal charges,” “subject of a sex-scandal story,” “potential political fallout,” “advisers moved today to contain the damage,” “frolicked with a Virginia prostitute,” and “biggest political bombshell of 1996.” Gennifer Flowers’s own 1992 Star debut was recalled three times.
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Overcome by convention week’s contagion of self-congratulation, the Tribune didn’t let good conduct rest on its self-evident merits. In the spirit of a candidate for reelection reminding the fawning mob, “And so I cut taxes, brought the boys home from war, led the battle against child molesters, and let the chips fall where they may,” the Tribune actually wondered out loud whether by refusing Gooding’s offer it had done the right thing.
“An old-fashioned idea, perhaps, but a sound one,” asserted the Tribune’s testimonial to itself. And cynics presumably be damned.
“I’m sure the Star was not his first choice of employment, but he was out of work,” says Mooney, a Daily News reporter who came over with Gooding from the Post. “There are not many places a metro editor can go.”
Ethically Challenged?
A tear sheet of this ad arrived in a plain white envelope, in the company of an unsigned note. The note said this:
