John Tierney's truly disturbed nature was manifest itself in today's Op-Ed, where he extols the loathsome Simon Cowell of American Idol. He also insults Fox; but the article is so poorly constructed that it is hard to find much to celebrate in even his accurate slap at the network.
He tries to argue that "Idol"s success is not because people enjoy watching failures,; not because "like race-car fans, "Idol" viewers can't resist the chance to view spectacular wrecks." Instead he thinks it's because of Simon; who is "the star of the show not just because he's cruel but because ... he knows how to expose hacks. He hates the formulaic... and appreciates rule-breakers." Tierney attributes an honesty and intelligence to Cowell that are entirely unfounded. Cowell's only talent is his nastiness. Imagine a show where all of the contestants were not hacks; Cowell would still savage a few anyway. It's what he's paid to do. Tierney appears to be being generous in his estimation of Cowell, just as he has been in his estimation of Bush.
In fact his praise of Cowell is similar to his feelings for Bush in another way as well. This season Cowell supported the same contestant that Tierney liked. For Tierney, self-interest and self-aggrandizement trump honest judgment far too often.
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