In the political realm, HBO’s The Newsroom is no more popular than it is among many television critics. Conservatives dislike The Newsroom because it depicts a smug liberal fantasy in which the liberals are actually winning, while liberals don’t like The Newsroom because it apparently depicts them just as the conservatives want them depicted: As smug, condescending know-it-alls who aren’t as smart as they thinks they are. People from both sides of the aisle love to hate this show, and it’s a wonder that the damn thing gets any viewers, but for the fact that many people who don’t give a sh*t about what critics or political pundits think actually seem to like it. At least bad old curmudgeon Dan Rather enjoys it, too.
However, we can add one more group to the hate pile: Romney aides.
Apparently, they’re not so happy with the way that the fictional Romney campaign is treating the fictional Newsroom reporter, Jim Harper, who is on a fictional Romney campaign bus with a fictional aide who, at first, wouldn’t let Jim Harper on the bus, and then later kicked Jim Harper and his fictional colleagues off the bus. In a fictional show. About fictional people. In a fictional universe. This quote from the Salt Lake Tribune, however, comes from a real Romney aide.
“You all would have heard about that if it had happened” in the real campaign, says Ryan Williams, a Romney campaign spokesman who traveled with the former Massachusetts governor. The show “doesn’t seem to be very close to the truth,” he adds.
If there was space, Williams says, legitimate news outlets — even those who were super-critical — were welcomed aboard the campaign’s press bus or on the campaign planes. At one point, some reporters covering Romney had to take a separate press plane but that was only because so many journalists were traveling with the Republican candidate, Williams notes.
It’s good to know that the real Romney campaign is still fighting the good fight against fictional opponents. You just keep chasing those windmills, fellas. One day, you’ll lasso one, take it home, and deprive that poor windmill of its reproductive rights and ability to marry windmills of the same sex.
(Hat Tip: Salon)
