BEST CORRECTIVE TO SAID SELF-CONGRATULATION: On the same day, the Globe reported that Interference Inc., which hired Berdovsky and Stevens to post the Mooninites around Boston, had urged the two via e-mail to keep quiet while Boston law enforcement freaked out. (Interference’s attorney later claimed, in an interview with the Globe, that “in no way was any response to the situation delayed.” Of course, that’s what he’s supposed to say.)
MOST EXCRUCIATING MACACA MOMENT: Berdovsky’s and Stevens’s aforementioned post-arraignment hijinks, a video of which was quickly posted on the Internet. Yes, they’re fall guys for a bunch of corporate fat cats. Yes, local law enforcement is seriously overreacting. But it was a lot easier to feel sorry for these two before they made total asses of themselves.
MOST MASOCHISTICALLY PLEASURABLE READ: The February 4 Globe front-pager itemizing the rest of the country’s post-Mooninite mockery of Boston. Roger Cressey, the counterterrorism expert for CNBC, had the best line: “The political leadership had an obligation to get out there and say, ‘We’ve taken a look at a couple of these, and they’re Lite Brites giving you the middle finger, okay?’ ”
BEST BLOGS-AS-RODNEY DANGERFIELD MOMENT: On Friday’s “Beat the Press” edition of WGBH-TV’s Greater Boston, panelist (and Phoenix contributor) John Carroll lauded local bloggers for quickly identifying the Mooninites (see above). “This is what the blogs are really good at, I think — one of the things they’re good at is sort of pooling common knowledge,” Carroll said. “I mean, they were on top of this early.” Host Emily Rooney emphatically disagreed: “So they say. I’ve seen no evidence of that.”
At this point, Carroll’s challenge was finding a tactful way to tell Rooney she was flat-out wrong. “Um,” he ventured. “Well, I think you could go back and — “E-mailing,” Rooney interjected. “People may have been e-mailing each other, but — “There’s a lot of blogs out there,” Carroll said gently, “and every report I’ve seen was that they got to it early.” Artfully done, John!
STRANGEST, MOST PREDICTABLE LEAP OF LOGIC: Token Globe conservative Jeff Jacoby uses the Mooninite debacle to argue for more aggressive pre-emption of radical Islamists.
MOST DISAPPOINTING FAILURE OF IMAGINATION:Herald columnist Joe Fitzgerald decides not to link l’affaire Mooninite to homosexuality, instead writing columns on Red Auerbach and an unnamed woman who can’t find a job. Joe, you’re losing your edge!
BEST EVIDENCE PURITANISM IS ALIVE AND WELL: The insistence, on the part of multiple local TV stations, on blurring out the Mooninites’ raised middle finger — which might be the biggest embarrassment of all.
