This Is the David Dinkins of Headlines
We can't say we care much about an email battle brewing between an irrelevant, loony mayoral candidate and an irrelevant, loony free weekly. But the recent exchange between perennial mayoral hopeful Christopher X. Brodeur and new New York Press chief Harry Siegel, which is making its way among various political-writer sorts today and somehow ended up in our inbox, at least provides our new favorite insult. From Brodeur to Siegel:
You are indeed the David Dinkins of editors.
It's so pithy, so dismissive, so New York, and, best, so multipurpose: You, sir, are the David Dinkins of dry cleaners. We can't wait to start using it.
The entire, amusingly inscrutable (or, perhaps, inscrutably amusing) exchange is after the jump.
From: Chris Brodeur
To: Harry Siegel
Subject: Harry Siegel For President! "Broken Promises
Open Letter To Sleeping Siegel
By CXB
Am I wrong?
Did you not say that NYPress—-under your vision—-would look like no other paper?
And did I not say—-before your hands touched the crappy paper—-that this would be proven TOTALLY FALSE?
(I said that you had not one original idea and I m still waiting to eat crow.)
You proved YOURSELF wrong, as there is not ONE unique or singular thing about NYPress today!
(It s like when Bush says he s fighting for freedom but is actually hindering it all over the world, or when Giuliani says he s tough on crime but is softer than any mayor in history.)
This hyper-irony shit has got to stop.
Or will you argue that your SUPER-OBVIOUS arts section is yet again a "fluke"?
You tell your readers about
THE WHITE STRIPES? (who are they?) JOSS STONE? (you mean the broad on the TV? Thanks for the tip!) SUPERGRASS? (congrats! You re only 10 YEARS behind SPIN and Rolling Stone!) BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB? (see: Supergrass)
WILL YOU DENY these are some of the most OBVIOUS "picks" lemmings could devise?
AM I WRONG?
Even Azi and Leaf agree with ME that these redundant Picks show up in all other lemming periodicals in NYC (like your mentors at the Voice and Time Out) and totally contradict your absurd conceits.
(No wonder you re still scared to death to debate me in public about ANYTHING.)
PROVE ME WRONG:
do something—-anything—-original.
You are indeed the David Dinkins of editors.
If you don t prove me wrong, you prove me right.
Good luck!
(up) yours, Christopher X. Brodeur
From: Harry Siegel
To: Chris Brodeur
Subject: Re: Harry Siegel For President! "Broken Promises
Chris,
I stand by my point per the listings, and fear that your present obsession with them has diminished the quality of your screeds. Why not attack, for instance, my Moses piece from a few issues back? Or the Lolita articles? Or something more interesting? Or has Ben Smith sucked away all that venom? In any event, you're slipping, man.
Best,
Harry Siegel
From: Chris Brodeur
To: Harry Siegel
Subject: Re: Harry Siegel For President! "Broken Promises
I could criticize every inch of the paper, but that's not the point.
I just wanted to demonstrate irrefutably to my mailing list that you BROKE YOUR PROMISE (and that I read your mind when I said you'd do this).
Exposing hypocrisy is my job and I do it thru a number of means.
Now, what exactly was your defense when you broke your promise?
(Maybe you didn't inhale??)
I'm not slipping. 100% of humans agree with me that your listings are TRITE and that you didn't keep your word.
I'll give you $100 if you can find me one person who agrees with you that recommending only the most typical stuff makes you atypical.
Why not just keep your promise?
Is that really too much to asK?
better luck next time,
CXB
