• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

There is no compromise when it comes to body autonomy. You either have it or you don’t.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

It’s easier to kill a dangerous animal than a man who just happens to have different thoughts/values than one’s own.

Republicans in disarray!

Republicans would impeach Biden if he bit into a whole Kit Kat rather than breaking the sections apart.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

Chutkan laughs. Lauro sits back down.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

Pelosi: “He either is stupid, or he thinks the rest of us are.” Why not both?

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

Putin dreamed of ending NATO, and now it’s Finnish-ed.

There’s always a light at the end of the frog.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

He seems like a smart guy, but JFC, what a dick!

“Cheese and Kraken paired together for the appetizer trial.”

The revolution will be supervised.

Well, whatever it is, it’s better than being a Republican.

“Why isn’t this Snickers bar only a nickel?”

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

An almost top 10,000 blog!

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

Mobile Menu

  • Four Directions Montana
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • COVID-19 Coronavirus
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • 2024 Elections
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • Targeted Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Like Father Like Son

Like Father Like Son

by $8 blue check mistermix|  February 14, 20149:52 am| 59 Comments

This post is in: Blatant Liars and the Lies They Tell

FacebookTweetEmail

L. Brent Bozell III has a “forced ghostwriter” for columns that go out in his name:

The conservative Media Research Center often urges liberal news outlets to TELL THE TRUTH, but the Reston, VA-based press watchdog isn’t telling the truth about its own leader: Brent Bozell doesn’t write the syndicated column that appears under his byline.

It is longtime MRC media analysis director Tim Graham who writes “almost everything published under [Bozell’s] name,” a former MRC employee tells me in an email. “That includes his weekly column. Same goes for his books, which at least carry Graham’s name in a secondary billing, but also aren’t written by Bozell (but Bozell keeps 80-90% of the advance and all profits!)”

Two other people with ties to MRC confirmed that Graham is Bozell’s ghostwriter – and that Graham is not happy with the assignment.

“Tim just resents having to do it,” says a former employee.

I would guess Bozell is one of many who doesn’t bother crediting his ghostwriter.

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « Friday Morning Open Thread: Whispering & Ranting
Next Post: Yup. This Happened »

Reader Interactions

59Comments

  1. 1.

    BGinCHI

    February 14, 2014 at 9:57 am

    On the other hand, I could probably write Bozell’s shit in less than an hour, so whatever he’s paying that dude is probably pretty good bang for the buck.

    What’s the news here? Bozell is not a real intellect?

    All right wing politics is corruption. Period.

  2. 2.

    Amir Khalid

    February 14, 2014 at 10:04 am

    Those quoting “Bozell’s” writings should henceforth attribute them thus: “According to Brent Bozell III’s staff ghostwriter, Media Research Center media analysis director Tim Graham, …”

  3. 3.

    brent

    February 14, 2014 at 10:07 am

    I don’t understand a key issue in this story. How is Graham forced to do anything? If he resents the ghostwriting whats preventing him from just refusing to do it or, for that matter, leaving?

  4. 4.

    mai naem

    February 14, 2014 at 10:08 am

    This is like that crazy Japanese composer who was doing this for about 20 yrs. He had paid the ghost composer about $70K over the years.

  5. 5.

    Linda Featheringill

    February 14, 2014 at 10:11 am

    @brent:

    I agree. Why doesn’t Mr. Graham just quit? Blackmail? Extortion? Physical coercion?

  6. 6.

    rikyrah

    February 14, 2014 at 10:11 am

    grifters…

    THE ENTIRE LOT OF THEM!!!

  7. 7.

    BGinCHI

    February 14, 2014 at 10:14 am

    @Linda Featheringill: Bozell’s Electric Personality?

  8. 8.

    Amir Khalid

    February 14, 2014 at 10:18 am

    @brent:
    If Graham refuses to ghostwrite for Bozell The Third, who is after all his boss, I guess Bozell could fire him for insubordination. He might be unwilling to quit because of a realisation that he wouldn’t get a gig this good anywhere else. Or maybe this is just Graham negotiating through a proxy for better pay and/or more credit.

  9. 9.

    ruemara

    February 14, 2014 at 10:20 am

    I always assumed parents held hostage.

  10. 10.

    schrodinger's cat

    February 14, 2014 at 10:21 am

    I doubt that Bozell’s books make any profit. Outside the conservative echo chamber who gives a damn about BB?

  11. 11.

    maximiliano furtive, formerly known as dr. bloor

    February 14, 2014 at 10:22 am

    @Linda Featheringill: Wingnut gravy train.

    My heart bleeds for Timmy and his first-world, white guy problems.

  12. 12.

    maya

    February 14, 2014 at 10:25 am

    ♫Ghostwriters ♪ on the sly. ♫

  13. 13.

    Corner Stone

    February 14, 2014 at 10:26 am

    mistermix, concurrent to your recent post on the TWC and Comcast deal, any thoughts on this reporting:
    Revolving Door: Top Obama Admin Antitrust Officials Tied To Comcast
    “Could the revolving door shape the antitrust enforcement for the proposed merger between Comcast and Time Warner? Republic Report looked into the officials responsible for overseeing antitrust enforcement, and found that at least two have close ties to Comcast.”

  14. 14.

    Corner Stone

    February 14, 2014 at 10:28 am

    @Amir Khalid:

    Or maybe this is just Graham negotiating through a proxy for better pay and/or more credit.

    Graham isn’t going to get a raise out of this revelation. At least, not in his current job. And what other wingnut outfit would take him after he used a proxy to talk out of turn?

  15. 15.

    Shygetz

    February 14, 2014 at 10:28 am

    I don’t get it…why does MRC pay Bozell when they can get this ghostwriter to write literally the same stuff for presumably much less money? Is the “Bozell Brand” really that strong? I mean, here in rural Georgia, I roll in pretty wingnutty circles. Brent Bozell is not a name that gets dropped very often. Any by “not very often” I mean “never”.

  16. 16.

    Hawes

    February 14, 2014 at 10:30 am

    I wonder who mistermix has chained in his basement, writing his posts?

  17. 17.

    Eric U.

    February 14, 2014 at 10:32 am

    well, there is at least one troll that says he just c/p from DKos. Which, if true, would be a service because every time I go over there my blood pressure rises.

  18. 18.

    Snarki, child of Loki

    February 14, 2014 at 10:35 am

    Well, Graham’s ghostwriting days are just about over. Technology will soon be able to replace both Graham AND Bozell.

    Yes, Artificial Stupidity will soon be here.

    I, for one, welcome BreitBot 9000 to the Realm Of ConservaTwits.

  19. 19.

    theMEitcong

    February 14, 2014 at 10:36 am

    @brent:

    It’s almost as if Bozell is shoving this down Graham’s throat. Repeatedly and often. And Graham resents it, oh yes.

  20. 20.

    Matt

    February 14, 2014 at 10:37 am

    Clearly, Bozell needs to rediscover the “dignity of work”, amirite? ;)

  21. 21.

    Amir Khalid

    February 14, 2014 at 10:37 am

    @Shygetz:
    Never misunderestimate* a chief executive’s capacity to believe in his own importance.

    *Beautiful word, this. Any idea who coined it?

  22. 22.

    SiubhanDuinne

    February 14, 2014 at 10:38 am

    @maya:

    Complete and utter WIN.

  23. 23.

    Elizabelle

    February 14, 2014 at 10:40 am

    Is Bozell claiming deafness?

    Shades of Japan’s “famous deaf composer isn’t deaf and has a ghostwriter” saga from last week.

    Except less interesting.

    And productive output of poorer quality. Not as socially redeeming.

    Meh.

  24. 24.

    Corner Stone

    February 14, 2014 at 10:40 am

    @Hawes: I have it on good authority that mistermix is a wannabe redditor something something argle.

  25. 25.

    brent

    February 14, 2014 at 10:43 am

    @Amir Khalid: If that is right then it essentially boils down to Graham having a job he doesn’t like. But being paid to do work you aren’t fond of is nothing at all like being forced to do that job, which is the language the article uses repeatedly and which makes no sense to me at all unless I am missing something crucial.

  26. 26.

    Bobby Thomson

    February 14, 2014 at 10:45 am

    Gosh, next thing you’ll be telling me that CEOs don’t actually write the things that go out under their names.

    Unremarkable and far more widespread than you realize. Few people with power, wealth, or fame do their own writing. When they do it comes off like Tom Perkins.

  27. 27.

    OzarkHillbilly

    February 14, 2014 at 10:47 am

    @Amir Khalid: IIRC, one George W Bush.

  28. 28.

    Pogonip

    February 14, 2014 at 10:48 am

    @maya: Where would you like your Internets delivered?

  29. 29.

    Mnemosyne

    February 14, 2014 at 10:50 am

    @Bobby Thomson:

    Gosh, next thing you’ll be telling me that CEOs don’t actually write the things that go out under their names.

    Scandalous! It’s not like we at the Giant Evil Corporation don’t know who the ghostwriters for the executives are who do all of the introductions, speeches, press releases, etc. for them.

    Of course, those executives generally don’t have a regularly published column in the newspaper or present themselves to the public as professional writers, either.

  30. 30.

    Linda Featheringill

    February 14, 2014 at 10:50 am

    @Amir Khalid:

    It is one of the better Bush-isms. :-)

  31. 31.

    Mustang Bobby

    February 14, 2014 at 10:51 am

    @maya: I had the exact same thought when I read the story last night. Thanks for posting it; I guess that makes you my ghostwriter… (ha ha)

    Fun fact: The lyrics to “The Ballad of Gilligan’s Island” also fit the melody of “Ghostriders in the Sky.”

    You’re welcome.

  32. 32.

    Bobby Thomson

    February 14, 2014 at 10:53 am

    @Mustang Bobby: you can do that with amazing grace, house of the rising sun, and the rime of the ancient mariner.

  33. 33.

    maya

    February 14, 2014 at 10:55 am

    @Pogonip: My proxy will pick them up at corner of 33rd & 3rd.

  34. 34.

    Vlad

    February 14, 2014 at 10:55 am

    If Graham doesn’t like it, then he should just bully some poorer, weaker subordinate of his own into doing the work.

  35. 35.

    Splitting Image

    February 14, 2014 at 10:55 am

    This is actually pretty consistent with how the Masters of the Universe view all other kinds of work. The moochers and takers who draw paycheques every two weeks aren’t responsible for a dime’s worth of the profits generated by a company.

    All, and I mean all, of the credit for said profit belongs to the job creators in the upper management, so the fact that some insignificant 47-percenter drew a cheque for writing what he was told doesn’t mean that one of his betters isn’t entitled to the by-line. All of you libtards are simply out of touch with reality.

  36. 36.

    Splitting Image

    February 14, 2014 at 10:58 am

    @Vlad:

    If Graham doesn’t like it, then he should just bully some poorer, weaker subordinate of his own into doing the work.

    And then there is this. If that Graham person were a job creator like his boss, he’d have delegated the work to some other sucker (and taken the credit).

  37. 37.

    schrodinger's cat

    February 14, 2014 at 11:00 am

    WP eated my first comment. Bozell sounds a lot like Bozo, doesn’t it?

  38. 38.

    Amir Khalid

    February 14, 2014 at 11:02 am

    There’s also the matter of the misrepresentation of the column’s authorship. It looks to me like Creators Syndicate wasn’t in on it, i.e. it didn’t know that Graham wrote them under Bozell Eye Eye Eye’s byline. But now that it does know, it has for some reason decided to protect Bozell rather than drop the column.

  39. 39.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    February 14, 2014 at 11:02 am

    Much as I think the left-blogosphere is sometimes too quick to dismiss the influence of the The Village, I gotta say….

    . Brent Bozell III

    who?
    /rhetorical, I am familiar with the Bozell/Buckley family tree

  40. 40.

    schrodinger's cat

    February 14, 2014 at 11:05 am

    @Amir Khalid: The same genius who wanted you to put food over your family.

  41. 41.

    Amir Khalid

    February 14, 2014 at 11:08 am

    @Bobby Thomson:
    In my head, I can now hear the Gilligan’s Island theme being sung to The Animals’ version of House Of The Rising Sun. It’s so beautiful …

  42. 42.

    Mustang Bobby

    February 14, 2014 at 11:09 am

    @Bobby Thomson: Thanks for that earwig times three.

  43. 43.

    catclub

    February 14, 2014 at 11:12 am

    @schrodinger’s cat: I am pretty sure Amir is trolling with that question.

    Plus, I wonder if someone should tell Graham that he can get health insurance on the individual market now. maybe he can leave a job he doesn’t like with portable health insurance.

  44. 44.

    cminus

    February 14, 2014 at 11:21 am

    @Mustang Bobby: Another fun fact: the music/lyrics of the Christmas carol “Joy to the World” can be fit to the lyrics/music of Bon Jovi’s “You Give Love a Bad Name”.

  45. 45.

    catclub

    February 14, 2014 at 11:31 am

    @cminus: Common meter.

  46. 46.

    Bart

    February 14, 2014 at 11:36 am

    It is always about projection with Republicans. That, and grifting.

  47. 47.

    ottercliff

    February 14, 2014 at 12:12 pm

    El Bozo could save even more by having a chimp type it.

  48. 48.

    Roger Moore

    February 14, 2014 at 12:20 pm

    @Matt:

    Clearly, Bozell needs to rediscover the “dignity of work”, amirite?

    Assumes facts not in evidence. For him to “rediscover” the dignity of work, he would have had to have recognized it in the first place.

  49. 49.

    Roger Moore

    February 14, 2014 at 12:24 pm

    @ottercliff:

    El Bozo could save even more by having a chimp type it.

    I don’t think so. Shrub already has a much more remunerative wingnut welfare gig.

  50. 50.

    WereBear

    February 14, 2014 at 1:16 pm

    The lyrics to ANY Barry Manilow song can be sung to ANY of his tunes.

    Amazing, really.

  51. 51.

    Thoughtful David

    February 14, 2014 at 1:43 pm

    @catclub: I’m guessing this is the real source. So, I’m imagining that Graham probably had some kind of pre-existing condition, say, some cancer in his past. He needed the job working for Bozell, in order to keep his insurance, so he kept his mouth shut and wrote the columns and books, pissed off and stewing the whole time.
    Now, suddenly, with PPACA, he can get insurance on his own, so he doesn’t need that job so badly anymore, and starts talking.
    See, Bozell? That PPACA did come back and bite you in the ass!

  52. 52.

    Mnemosyne

    February 14, 2014 at 1:50 pm

    @WereBear:

    I now have “Looks Like We Made It” echoing through my head. I hate you.

  53. 53.

    WereBear

    February 14, 2014 at 2:08 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Sing it like “Mandy!”

    Helps.

    If all else fails, James Brown. He’s my ear worm squisher.

  54. 54.

    Beatrice

    February 14, 2014 at 2:14 pm

    You can also sing any Emily Dickinson poem to the tune of Gilligan’s Island.

    Because I could not stop for Death – He kindly stopped for me – The Carriage held but just Ourselves – And Immortality!

  55. 55.

    Quicksand

    February 14, 2014 at 2:26 pm

    Ah yes, a “forced ghostwriter.” Or as I like to call it, an “employee.”

    Imma go be outraged about something else today if y’all don’t mind.

  56. 56.

    Fort Geek

    February 14, 2014 at 3:15 pm

    @brent: Tim Graham stays for the medical. If only there were a way he could look up several medical plans on…let’s call it an “exchange” where he could compare things…

  57. 57.

    snarkworth

    February 14, 2014 at 3:39 pm

    I’m sure Bozell “is one of many who doesn’t bother crediting his ghostwriter” because nobody credits their ghostwriter. Hence the term.

    Authors may mention the ghostwriter of a book in the acknowledgments, but not on the cover.

  58. 58.

    Ruckus

    February 14, 2014 at 4:29 pm

    @ottercliff:
    If a chimp wrote it the quality would be better.

  59. 59.

    slippytoad

    February 14, 2014 at 9:38 pm

    @Quicksand:

    I think the point is the man is too lazy or inept to even do his own hack column.

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

Recent Comments

  • cain on Take the Fucking Win (Apr 15, 2024 @ 11:53am)
  • rikyrah on Take the Fucking Win (Apr 15, 2024 @ 11:53am)
  • Brachiator on Monday Morning Open Thread: The Tariff We Pay for Civilization (Apr 15, 2024 @ 11:53am)
  • Sure Lurkalot on Take the Fucking Win (Apr 15, 2024 @ 11:53am)
  • cain on Take the Fucking Win (Apr 15, 2024 @ 11:51am)

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Balloon Juice Meetups!

All Meetups
Talk of Meetups – Meetup Planning
Proposed BJ meetups list from frosty

Fundraising 2023-24

Wis*Dems Supreme Court + SD-8
Virginia House Races
Four Directions – Montana
Worker Power AZ
Four Directions – Arizona
Four Directions – Nevada

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
Positive Climate News
War in Ukraine
Cole’s “Stories from the Road”
Classified Documents Primer

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Mailing List Signup
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)

Fix Nyms with Apostrophes

Balloon Juice for Ukraine

Donate

Twitter / Spoutible

Balloon Juice (Spoutible)
WaterGirl (Spoutible)
TaMara (Spoutible)
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
ActualCitizensUnited

Political Action 2024

Postcard Writing Information

Balloon Juice for Four Directions AZ

Donate

Balloon Juice for Four Directions NV

Donate

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2024 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!