One of the articles he stole was written by a friend of mine, Macarena Hernandez. Mac’s brother is married to my sister and Macarena has always been an exceptional student and person. She’s intelligent and dedicated to her family. She turned down a job with the New York Times to return to the valley to take care of her mom after her dad was killed in a car accident. It’d be a shame for this punk, Jayson Blair, to get a book deal or rewarded for plaigiarising her and other reporters.
I am stunned he played the race card. Stunned. :rolleyes:
Well, not to defend an utterly unscrupulous plagiarist or anything, but it’s not as though the “race card” wasn’t already on the table. Practically the second point hammered on in every article about the topic, after “N. Y. Times Journalist Plagiarized Articles,” was “Blair was Child of Affirmitive Action.” I believe there’s a couple threads focusing on this aspect of the brouhaha. So, yeah, why shouldn’t he turn it around to his benefit? That’s what I’d do if I were completely amoral.
I’m not a pyschiatrist, but there is something seriously wrong with Jayson Blair. He gives off that creepy sociopath or personality disorder vibe. He reminds me very much of those individuals (some of whom have temporarily infested the SDMB) who pretend to have terminal illnesses or invent dying children in order to garner sympathy.
Unlike other celebrity plagiarizers, he doesn’t seem to have done it for money, or because he was pressed by a deadline. It all seems to be about the strange little world inside his head. The earlier thread which datelined a Jayson Blair story from the moon was right on target.
Unfortunately, I do think that if he can get his book published it will sell. Americans love a scandal. I’m just not sure he can keep it together long enough to produce something marketable.
If the asshat fits, wear it.
Can’t be surprised that someone with his ethics would consider such a stunt. Do Springerites read?
He disgusts me, truly. And I feel sorry for his family, who I have heard (from a person who knew them back when he was reputable) used to practically worship him.
I wish there was an organization like the one featured in Undercover Brother. Blair needs to be removed. He has got to be an instrument of the Man the way he’s continually embarrassing himself and all the other black people trying to make it in this world.
j_kat_251, I didn’t understand a bleeding word of your post. Would you, could you, rephrase it in something more approaching Standard English?
Jayson Blair is an asshat and a double-asshat, now, for invoking the ghost of Jim Crow and disturbing the dust covering Race, now long-discredited.
And the irony, oft-stated, is that Yours Truly was unaware of Our Misfavored One’s race before this thread.
This has to be the first OP which I remember Eve making which I agree with 100.000%. There may have been one on nun-beatings two a few years ago, but aside from that… 
Una
I’ve been following the Jayson Blair story and to a point I agree with what you all have been saying. However, there might be a few extenuating circumstances. Could it be that Mr. Blair knew that he was under intense scrutiny as a minority reporter for the times and felt that he needed to resort to such tactics to justify his prestigious career? A lot of people pin their hopes on promising members of their particular group and expect unrealistic achievements. Maybe Mr. Blair was unfortunate enough to make the mistakes that other inexperienced young journalists make, and he over-reacted. In any event, I hope he gets counseling and steps back to reconsider his future career options.
Anthracite, I forget–was I for or against nun-beatings?
This whole Jayson Blair affair seems to bring a new outrage every day. First, there was the affirmative action angle. Blair had compiled a horrendous record of corrections and mistakes, yet kept getting promoted.
When it was noted that Blair is black, there were those who did not want the topic of racial preferences brought up and suggested it was racist to do so. It obviously raised questions to see someone with so little skill rise so far, so fast, but people were tiptoeing around the obvious question – was he getting special treatment because of his color? Asking that could get you slammed as a racist.
Then Blair himself admitted he was the beneficiary of affirmative action.
Okay, Blair, let’s take a look at this. “When Blair was hired, executives assumed he had graduated college, but University of Maryland officials say he has a year of coursework to complete, The Times reported.
Blair, who started as an intern, was appointed to a full-time job covering police and was promoted to the national desk despite concerns about the accuracy of his work.”(link)
So you get a position at one of the most coveted and prestigious institutions in your field, you’re obviously not qualified, and you’re saying “racism had more of an impact”?
Maybe Blair has one of those new-fangled definitions of racism: that racism is anything he wants it to be. I thought racism would be denying a job to someone who is qualified because of his race. Instead, you got the job, and the promotions. So just how in the hell did racism have “more” of an impact?
The errors in your stories showed you had a basic problem with performing on a fundamental level of reporting: i.e. getting the facts right. It was as if they had hired a tone-deaf person to be a music instructor, or a physicist who didn’t know Newton’s laws, or a math teacher who couldn’t count. Blair, you weren’t held back because of your race – you were promoted despite your incompetence.
And I now see you’re spouting off about the rage you feel as a black man. Wow, that’s real “street,” there, Jayson. Except that the facts show you had a pretty nice upbringing compared to a lot of other people in this world. “A native of Centerville, Va., he is the son of Frances Blair, a teacher, and Thomas Blair, an inspector general at the Smithsonian Institution.” (link)
I think the answer was either a “yes, with a but”, or a “no, with an if.” 
And of course, it depends upon whether we’re talking about nuns beating others, others beating nuns, nuns beating nuns, nuns beating naugthy little Catholic Schoolgirls with their pleated skirts and saddle shoes on pay-per-view…hmmm…you know, those Catholic Schoolgirls are so very naughty, and need plenty of bare-bottomed spankings to keep them in line…I’ll bet that would raise a lot of money too, if it was televised…
I’m not at all shocked that Blair (or anyone of similar character in a similar situation) would pull this sort of shit: He figures that maybe, just maybe, he can turn this mess around in his favor - and even if he doesn’t, perhaps his book will still sell, making him a reviled, yet wealthy man.
Ugh.
From what I’ve read, the entire publishing world is dropping this maggot like a live grenade. The best prediction is that he might receive a 5 - 6 figure book deal. In the same sentence they also mentioned how his “window of opportunity” is exceedingly narrow. As in, let’s say, about fifteen minutes. Most of the country does not read the NYT and could give a rip about some jerkwater fuckup who ripped off more work than his ancestors’ slave owners.
The Washington Post has an indepth story on this piece of shit, and his amoral attitude went all the way back to college. Sociopath is probably very close to accurate. He will never accept any fault for anything he ever did.
Famed historian of black slavery Eugene Genovese argues in Roll, Jordan Roll that slaves stealing pies from window sills and other such hijinks are a way that the slaves asserted “agency” over their lives, and were little pieces of silent rebellion against the institution. The numerous acts of arson apparently committed by slaves fall within this same sphere of activity, in a more serious way.
I don’t know to what extent Genovese is right about this (he’s a Marxist after all, it colors his analysis of any oppressed people with buzzwords like “agency”). But for this nutball Blair to compare himself to slaves in bondage rebelling against the institution of slavery is worth a giant screaming field of rolleyes.
We all knew the minute we saw this guy’s face on TV that somebody was going to try to play the race card, we just didn’t know it was going to end up being the nutjob himself, and in such a wacky Belafonte-esque manner.
In addition, he has said that he identified with Lee Boyd Malvo, the teen-age sniper suspect!
Television: Is the caller there?
Opus: Yes, I’m here, Mr. Donahue. And frankly I’m disgusted with those who oppose penguin lust. Penguin lust is not immoral! It’s not unnatural! It’s a beautiful fact of life! I fully support penguin lust!
Television: Great. But today’s topic is “nun beating.”
Opus: Good lord, man. I can’t support that.
We have a winner in the “very obscure Bloom County reference game”! You must be ancient, like myself…
So far, no publisher has offered Blair a book contract. One pundit pointed out that publishers may be worried about libel suits. They could hardly claim that Blair was a credible witness.