It seems like Politico has established a new standard for what political journalism means. I mean, TNR hasn't been a quality establishment in a long time, but before today I'd have at least assumed that they could recognize what journalism looks like.
Nope, this just showed up in my mailbox, as their featured story of the month:
Dear TNR Society Member:
Following is an advance copy of Gabriel Sherman's account of John Edwards' mysterious life in North Carolina. In the aftermath of the 2008 presidential campaign, Edwards was said to be distraught. He lost a precipitous amount of weight, and advisers even told reporters at the time that they worried he might be suicidal. Since then, things have only gotten worse. But Edwards is refusing to follow in the tradition of other scandal-plagued figures like Tiger Woods and Eliot Spitzer, who initially kept low profiles after they were publicly humiliated. Just how is the disgraced former senator and presidential candidate keeping himself busy these days? As a TNR Society subscriber, you get early access.
Absolutely nuts, right? Glenn Greenwald tends to call this stuff "royal court gossip". I was nevertheless foolish enough to click the link. Yeah, I'm one of the dopes who cause the problem. But I wasn't satisfied, since TNR tricked me into reading 8 pages of this:
Word that Edwards was at the door coursed through the crowd. Once he was inside, students came up to snap photos with him. One attendee recalled that he wore his wedding ring. Edwards lapped up the attention. “He was graciously taking pictures for thirty minutes,” Jentgen says. Not everyone was thrilled, though. “Some people there had worked on his campaign and were still excited to see him,” Jentgen recalls. “Others, obviously, were not.”
Edwards stayed for two hours, leaving around midnight. He drank white wine and light beer, according to multiple attendees. After a while, Edwards made his way to the dance floor. “He was kind of uncomfortably dancing,” Jentgen says. “He was just happy to be with people who weren’t going to judge him.” Edwards cut loose, dancing to everything from salsa to Wreckx-n-Effect’s 1992 rap hit “Rump Shaker.”
I bet y'all were just dying to know what kinds of wine Edwards drank at the whatever it was, right? Well, regardless, now you know.
Look closely (or, hell, don't): there's no politics in this story whatsoever. TNR's cover story, pressed upon their subscribers, is literally indistinguishable from something written for the National Enquirer. The only difference is the tone, but I bet Gabriel Sherman, who penned this sleaze, could just as easily embrace the Enquirer's breathless astonishment.
By the way, I don't pay money for my subscription; it's one of the thousands that they give away for free using proceeds from their actual subscribers.