The Last Man Standing
Political journalism is, in a word, wretched. Oh, there are so many other words we could use to describe it, but what’s the point? The mainstream media has turned what should be our most important of traditions into an event that looks like it should be on ESPN. How often will you hear the words about a “slugfest” or “the gloves are off” or anything beyond a glimpse of a side of a persona when it comes to discussing a candidate? If the idea isn’t simple enough to fit on a headline, then it’s not worth the time. No, don’t hire writers who can surmise large ideas in a single sentence. Simply make sure the story will fit a pre-written script and force the candidates to either play their part or lose the free airtime and fade into obscurity. Just ask Dennis Kucinich or Ron Paul or Joe Biden or Chris Dodd. “Sorry, guys. Hillary started running back in 2000 and Obama started back in 2004 and we just can’t seem to get rid of John Edwards no matter how hard we try to marginalize him as an angry kook. Didn’t you get the memo?”
But there’s one political journalist who is pissed off as we are: Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone. He sees through the shit left behind by the dog-and-pony show and then slings it right back. He may be the meanest man in political journalism but his attitude isn’t to get attention. It seems to be a love-hate relationship where he’s swimming in the worst shit politics has to offer and then he’s doing the back-stroke right on through it. He’s not playing anyone’s game and he’s the last honest man in political journalism.
I’ve listed his articles from the 2008 Presidential Campaign below:
The Merchants of Trivia (January 10, 2008)
Obama’s Moment (December 13, 2007)
The Battle for Iowa (November 29, 2007)
Matt Taibbi on Mike Huckabee, Our Favorite Right-Wing Nut Job (November 14, 2007)
Mitt Romney: The Huckster (October 19, 2007)
McCain’s Last Stand (October 4, 2007)
Make-Believe Reagan (September 20, 2007)
The War Party (September 6, 2007)
And I took this clip from HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher where he made Tony Snow do a tap-dance that would make Fred Astaire shit himself.
