All the news that's fit to steal: The Times rips off The Atlantic
Rachel L. Swarns, writing in Sunday’s NY Times, cheerfully stole a nice piece of reporting by my good friend Gabriel Sherman which appeared on The Atlantic website on Nov. 9 about the repulsive scramble by DC parents to attract the Obama girls to their private schools.
Personally I think the Obama girls would be better off going to school in the most crack-infested precincts of Anacostia than having to socialize daily with the blighted spawn of the status-addled ruling class. But even more nauseating than these parents is writing an article on the same topic one week later and giving no credit. Swarns interviewed the same people and used the same anecdotes.
Sherman, Nov. 9:
Nothing sets the nation’s capital aflame quite like the imminent arrival of a president elect, especially one who directly appeals to the ruthless strivers who populate the wealthy liberal precincts of upper northwest D.C. For a few weeks, elite Washington abandons all decorum in a ritual display of lust. The unbridled jockeying for status, influence, or a lofty cabinet perch in the new administration is intense, over the top, and therefore hilarious to behold… The Obama era may be less than a week old, but denizens of the city’s toniest neighborhoods have already fixated on the objects of greatest cachet: for status-conscious parents and elite private-school headmasters, nothing is more coveted than the Obamas’ young daughters.
Swarns, Nov. 16:
IN a town abuzz about all things Barack Obama, the policy wonks and government insiders have been whispering and wondering about who will be who in his incoming cabinet. But among power parents in the nation’s capital, there is yet another burning question.
Where will the Obama girls go to school?
Sherman:
Among the Washington power elite—the law-firm partners, high government officials, and big-name journalists—the process of applying to private school is not only ulcer-inducing (and wallet-busting—tuitions run as high as $28,000 this year) but is a particularly brutal spectator sport, a playing field littered with broken egos and thwarted ambition.
Swarns:
With annual tuitions that can exceed $28,000, these liberal-leaning schools have long brimmed with the scions of senators, representatives, financiers, diplomats, scholars, lawyers, journalists and even a few American presidents… The school competition has transfixed a city where high-profile personalities and institutions often place a premium on access to political power.
Sherman:
Several weeks ago, prominent Democratic donors, and one-time Clinton loyalists, Beth and Ronald Dozoretz (she was the Clinton bundler who intervened with the president to help secure a pardon for the fugitive financier Marc Rich) attended a dinner for Barack Obama at a private home in Virginia, where Michelle Obama was among the guests. With Michelle’s husband ahead in the polls, victory and transition were on the minds of those in attendance. The Dozoretzes… had a personal request for the soon-to-be first lady. Beth Dozoretz delivered a handwritten note from Melanne, a fourth-grader at the prestigious, Quaker-run Sidwell Friends School, who is the same age as Malia Obama. Melanne had written to say how much she hoped the Obamas would enroll their daughters at Sidwell Friends.
“Sidwell is a very special place, both educationally and culturally,” Ronald Dozoretz explained to me, recounting the conversation with Michelle Obama. “She should look very closely at it. We said to Michelle that if she wanted to talk more about the school, we would be happy to do that.”
Swarns lets Dozoretz save a little face by claiming that she recommended other schools to Michelle Obama before passing her daughter’s charming note. I’m sure Ms. Dozoretz was desperate for some clean-up after her husband embarrassed her by spilling to The Atlantic. Thanks, NYT, it was a pleasure rolling you! It’s also quite disgusting that the fucking bitch behind the Marc Rich pardon (a pertinent fact the Times didn’t see fit to print) has any access to Michelle Obama whatsoever. Here’s Swarns:
And Beth Dozoretz, a prominent Democratic donor, said that Mrs. Obama asked her about Sidwell a couple of months ago. She said she encouraged Mrs. Obama to consider the school, but emphasized that the city has several excellent private institutions, including Georgetown Day.
Mrs. Dozoretz also passed along a note from her 10-year-old daughter, Melanne, who was thrilled about the prospect of an Obama presidency and the possibility that the girls might end up at her school. (“I love Sidwell because I learn so much there,” Melanne wrote in the note addressed to Mrs. Obama.)
“Of course, anybody would be happy to have that family in their school,” Mrs. Dozoretz said. “This is the first family. But I really feel they will do what’s right for their family. It’s a very personal decision.”
Sherman:
But nauseating as it may be to some, the social significance of the decision has already led to speculation that well-placed parents in the Obama universe are quietly (or, like Dozoretz, not so quietly) lobbying to steer the future first children to their preferred school. Handicappers consider Sidwell, Georgetown Day and Maret the likeliest bets, and each possesses particular strengths—and influence—in the Obama camp.
Swarns:
Michelle Obama toured at least two of Washington’s most prestigious private schools last week — Sidwell Friends School and Georgetown Day School — and touched off a frenzy of dreaming, gossiping and well-mannered jockeying among the Washington elite. Maret School, another exclusive academy, is also believed to be on the shortlist for the future first children, Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7.
The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg called out the Times in a brief item yesterday but I don’t think this has gotten any play. Does the Times think it is above crediting the Atlantic?
Vanity School Fair [The Atlantic]
Parents’ Night With The President [NY Times]
The Art of the Lift, New York Times Division [The Atlantic]
