12 Comments on “Anita Esterday for President”

1. This is one of my favorite things, when reporters report on reporters. Most often seen in Sports, where a journalist writes, many in the media have been criticizing blah blah blah, but are proven wrong….

2. 1. Act like a shallow twit.
   2. Report on people calling you a shallow twit.
   3. Run ostensibly introspective essay: am I a shallow twit?
   4. Report on the new trend of accusations and introspection in re shallow twittery.
   5. Lose interest, spot something shiny, wander off.
   6. Act like a shallow twit.

   And so on.

3. But…but…John

   This might be even more important than when John Edwards got a $400 haircut!

4. It might be, but it’s certainly not as important as the time Hilary Clinton laughed like a maniac. Or that time that Dean person pumped his fist in the air. Or when that girl on the intertubes made a video about Obama. Let’s not forget the time when we found out that Senator Kerry was married to a ketchup magnate. Or that Al Gore invented the internet.

   Because who needs substantive discussion about policy and voting records and things like that….?

5. When I heard the original story on NPR I just thought, “Well, send a mid-level staffer to appologize and give her a substantial tip, no reporters around.” Which they did, but I guess the staffer then said something abotu leaving a credit card tip, then it was cash, and then something else about sharing. Bad move. Just appologize and give her the tip.

   But then at the end of the followup NPR story the original reporter had to admit that they didn’t do a good follow-up before allowing the comment to be left in the report, and that they were disappointed that this was becoming more of a story about the tip than about the campaign.

6. The great thing about Americans is that we can always identify what’s important and figure out a way to ignore it completely.

7. “there’s better things in this world to be thinking about than who served Hillary Clinton at Maid-Rite and who got a tip and who didn’t get a tip.”

   Are there? We’re in the process of deciding who should lead the nation for (at least) four years. This is a significant story, in the sense that a candidate who doesn’t abide by tipping customs is a signifier for a candidate who has contempt for the electorate, and might therefore be a poor choice. To offer a parallel example: with all the actions taken by Bush in the wake of 9/11 to increase security and remove an external threat to the country, why did people joke about “My Pet Goat?” The answer, of course, is that the children’s book is a signifier for other incompetence. Or another: “the Dean scream.” The presidency is a stressful job, and looking like a loony on the campaign trail is a signal that the candidate handles stress badly.

   This presidential campaign season started earlier than any to date, and Clinton has been gearing for it for a long time. Shouldn’t little things like “tip the waitress” be a well-established procedure by now? What should we expect of a presidency where little things like this get overlooked?

8. gerrymander – Except that the tip wasn’t overlooked. A substantial was paid, to be split up among everyone, and apparently the manager didn’t distribute it.

9. Gerrymander:

   “Are there?”

   Yes. There really are. Thanks for asking.

10. “Yes. There really are. Thanks for asking.”

    Truly, spoken like a man who has been driven — nay, consumed — by the prospect of visiting the Creation Museum lo these many months. ;-)

11. Indeed, our long national nightmare is over!

12. gerrymander: tip or no tip, do you really believe that in the entire entourage that follows any candidate around, it’s the candidate’s decision on whether/how much to tip the wait staff?

    “My Pet Goat” and “Deanscream” were dumb stories too, but at least the candidate was directly involved…