Reffer Madness
September 4, 2008 at 3:41 pm
Barack Obama just now, regarding Republican charges that the media has been unfair to Sarah Palin:
“If they wanna work the refs, they are free do so.”
Sounds an awful lot like this line in Wednesday’s Washington Post:
By contrast, Schmidt spoke on the record in denouncing as “an absolute work of fiction” a New York Times account of the process by which the McCain campaign vetted Palin. He also charged that Newsweek columnist Howard Fineman was predicting that the governor might have to step down as McCain’s vice presidential choice.
Fineman said that he has “never, ever said that,” and that he has pointed out positive aspects of Palin’s candidacy. “They decided a long time ago that they were going to work the refs,” he said.
Brian Wendell Morton said,
September 4, 2008 @ 5:53 pm
Howard, Howard, Howard, my dear old UMCP buddy…
The term, “working the refs” has been around for at least eight years now (and quite probably longer) in terms of conservatives mau-mauing the media. Check Eric Alterman’s “Altercation” blog, or probably Somerby’s Daily Howler as well for verification.
But crediting it to Howard Fineman gives him props for a little more creativity than he deserves, at least for that.