European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 13, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 columns the stars and stripes saturday Juie 13,1987 Martin Gottlieb press should t do politicians dirty work toward the end of this column is a. Proposed guideline for the press regarding the coverage of uie sex lives of candidates. Many Ohio newspaper people fell Hal the Cleve land Plain dealer should not have published its Story last week about the alleged extramarital sex life of the governor of Ohio. Some of those people believe How Ever thai the Miami Herald s Story about former Colo Rado sen. Gary Hart was legitimate. After All they reason the Herald was just a bit player in the Hart Story. Hart was behaving with such incomprehensible indiscretion and audacity that it was Only a matter of time before he destroyed one thinks of infidelity should a Guy like that be president Ohio gov. Richard Celeste was t carrying on in the Middle of a presidential Campaign though. He was t being indiscreet. He was t daring the press to catch him if it could. He was however clearly Irving to capitalize on Hart s political demise. Before Hart left the race no body Ever mentioned the possibility Oft Celeste bid it could be argued especially if one approves of the Herald Story Hal if Celeste his a Hart like past then his audacity is no newsworthy As Harts the editor of the Cleveland paper said that he decided to run the Celeste Story because Celeste an swered no when asked whether he had a Hart like problem. The editor said that response constituted Hart like dishonesty. Bui does anybody really believe that Celeste s Dis honesty is the heart of this matter according to Plain dealer people a preliminary decision was made 10 Check out rumours Aboul Celeste that had been floating about for years. The reporters then nailed Down the Story. But a decision was not made to run it the editor was concerned thai it was just about sen not about lying. After All in 1981, Celeste had made the very in Harl like Public admission i m no Bui then Celeste held a press conference on another subject and the Han question got asked and he gave the wrong answer. Then the editor bad no reason for not running the Story. However after the Story came out the celestes made no Hart like denials. Dagmar Celeste talks about forgiveness of him. So Celeste was Hung by his one word answer to on question. In other words the press was splitting hairs. George f. Will eyewitness now Mil he a re Ahwaz of a w pff�5/p0vwcwiwnss 9f or m Numi Anast. So Long As the press is engaged in deciding which politicians deserve to have heir adulteries on Page one and which Don to such hair splitting is inevitable. And yet for the press to completely swear off cover age of sex would be to High hand edly reject the con Cerns of the americans a majority who Tell pollsters that yes there Are circumstances in which a person s personal behaviour tells you something about i fitness or High office. A proposed guideline there should generally be no coverage of the sexual behaviour of a candidate unless some other candidate attempts to make a Campaign Issue of that behaviour. Even if sexual behaviour is a legitimate Campaign Issue Why should the press raise it automatically inane Campaign there Are far More issues that could be discussed than Are discussed. The major players in deciding which Are discussed Are the candidates. If the press decides that sex is so important Hal i must be an Issue whether the candidates raise it or not that s not because of any High minded reason. It s be cause political reporters will seize any Opportunity to avoid writing about monetary policy and farm Price supports and other such topics the press should not do a politician s dirty work for him. If a candidate wants to stand up and say i am More qualified than the other Guy because i am faithful Sci my wife the press then has no Choice but to Cove the Story. Until a politician does thai there is no Rea son to believe that a candidate s infidelity somehow separates him from other candidates. And if it does to what s the Point of writing about it Martin Goff we Intaj icy by Nylon Billy news ind journal him keeping capitalism cooking through consumption new York from her office Al the foot of the Street of dreams no. I Madison ave., Faith Popcorn can see a few years ahead. That is Why brain re serve the company she founded 13 Yean ago is coining Money. She is a trend Detector and today she sees a future full of women with hips men with martinis and microwave meatloaf. If Popcorn is right and she has prospered by being so in the service of corporations eager to anticipate Consumers whims the heartbeat of America is Flut Ter. She paints a melancholy picture of the National mood As revealed in con sumption. We Abe it seems nearly neurotic about the supposed fragility of our health fatigued to the Point of making a booming Industry of pizza deliveries starved for self expression yet so out of practice that wearing Denim and Cook ing with Mesquite seems expressive hungry for tradition by with such an attenuated sense of the traditional that the hunger is satisfied by eating Maca Roni and cheese eager to rebel against constrictive circumstances but satisfied to rebel by saying ill not face another piece of fish give me Popcorn has unwillingly pioneered the complaint theory of capitalism. By conducting thousands of interviews and scrutinizing hundreds of publications she helps corporations connect consumer products with people s anxieties and grievances. In Light from shoddy nest people will spend Jyz for a Dove bar an upscale ice Cream bar. In flight from sterility they la pick products identified with striking personalities Lee Iacocca Frank per due. A Popcorn Sunburst of inspiration is that people express themselves by identifying with such product personalities through consumption and therefore what the fish Industry needs is a Frank Perdue of a desire to ii Pressinger accounts for the popularity of Oprah Winfrey Phil Donahue "60 minutes capital punishment and 800 numbers connecting callers to people they can shout at. A nagging sense that the environment is unsafe and our behaviour even More so first herpes now aids has produced a grim preoccupation with Well Ness even unto theories connecting particular foods with the Well being of particular organs Broccoli for the respiratory system Brussels sprouts for hearts. Not even the water is Safe but bottling the Stutt can make the mundane a instrument of status a water bar in Beverly Hills Sells 200 brands of says that because aids is giving thinness bad associations with a wasting disease and because working women Are eating More to sustain the Energy burned up by stress women increasingly Are if not rubenesque at least More ample. We be branded out says Popcorn showing a Way with verbs that earns her a place with Honor on Madison Avenue. Down with White things be they wines or veal and up with beef. An oppressive sense of he everyday Tess of everyday life leads people to seek adventure and a sense of indulgence by buying jeeps shopping at banana Republic sipping Misc if drinks even going to Australia to hang out with Crocodile Dundee. Among trend act actors Australia Chicks a sure bet on the other hand the harassment of daily life looming nuclear incineration rude waiters have driven peo ple to they have gone underground in their Dens with their Vars and compact disc players snug in their Barc loungers equipped with stereo headphones the better to keep at Bay the modern world the discontinuities of which have produced a longing for tradition. That longing is so superficial it is assuaged by sos mom food like Macaroni and cheese and microwave meatloaf. Even crinoline Are coming Back. Popcorn says the Pace of modern Lifs and the perpetual exhaustion of couples who have become patents for the firs time in their thirties leads to grazing taking Little Biles off the surface of life. There is a desire for snippets of experience hence people Magazine Usa today and restaurants serving Only hours d oeuvres. Takeout food is Selling Well every Kitchen appliance but the microwave is being used less than it was four years ago. Critics of capitalism have argued Hal in societies such As ours All Datura " needs and desires have Long since been satisfied so capitalism Wilt collapse unless manipulative marketing manufactures fresh appetites. The critics say our material Progress depends on our moral degradation to manipulated creatures. But if Popcorn we use products to cheer up our Little Boring lives is Correct capitalism can be kept Cook ing by people who regard consumption As therapy for the disappointments and aggravations they suffer in a capitalist society. Given the guidance of trend detectors capitalism is not doomed by internal contradictions. It is powered by an internal dynamic of aches assuaged by creative products such As microwave meatloaf. A Washington Pom
