You may think Hillary is great, you may think she is the worst, or somewhere in between. If you're on this site, you probably are not a big fan of little dictator who calls himself our President. And you probably think pretty highly of Al Gore.
In any or all of those cases, this is really about the pathetic folks who cover our political campaigns. Words really can't describe how juvenile they are. I'll provide the link and bring in a few choice morsels but I really think it's worth the time to read the whole thing.
The piece is by Glenn Greenwald and it starts off with this:
http://www.salon.com/...
Hillary and the mean kids on the bus
(updated below - Update II)
Yesterday, The Washington Post's Anne Kornblut -- in an item oddly headlined "Clinton Joins the Girls on the Bus" -- described how Hillary Clinton boarded the press bus that follows her around, brought bagels and coffee for the reporters, and delivered some pleasant remarks about what a great experience Iowa has been. But Kornblut pointedly noted that this was Hillary's "first and only [time] on board the bus since she started campaigning almost exactly a year earlier," and Kornblut noted that the press corps sat "in silence" until Hillary left.
That report led to this exchange today with The Post's Lois Romano:
Washington: I just read on The Post's Trail page that Clinton dropped by the press bus to drop off coffee etc. and was met with cold silence. Wow. Even after 15 years, why is there so much press hostility towards the Clintons? If it turns out to be McCain vs. Clinton (my current guess) in the general, the difference in press coverage between these two is going to be as staggering as it is depressing.
Lois Romano: I was struck by that as well. I have covered Hillary Clinton off on and for 15 years and I've never seen anything that stark happen. While there is a tense relationship between HRC and the media, I'm not sure why the reporters on the bus wouldn't have tried to take advantage of her appearance and ask some good questions. All she could do is refuse to answer them. It's not for the press to be hostile to Clinton -- it's the media's responsibility to cover her.
For all the talk about the complex ideological, economic and other factors that shape our horrendous political press coverage, it is always important to remember that so much of it -- as Romano's accurate comments highlight -- is attributable to the adolescent, self-absorbed, herd-like behavior of the reporters who travel around with these candidates. Those whom they like personally -- the ones who flatter them or otherwise trigger their desire to be liked -- receive reverent coverage, while those to whom they're personally hostile receive the opposite.
Just contrast the frosty, petulant reception they gave Hillary when she entered their bus with the way White House press reporters at the President's news conferences, for years, cackle at his every attempt at humor and light up with glee when he deigns to engage them in his insulting frat-boy repartee.
These are a bunch of affluent snobs who also act like they are still in High School:
In an interview with CAP's Campus Progress, Rolling Stone's Matt Taibbi, who has been travelling with the press corps for much of the year, described them this way:
CAP: You said somewhere that the perfect symbol for the press corps of the 2004 presidential campaign was Candy Crowley from CNN sitting on the bus with cookie crumbs spilling out of her mouth, talking about how ugly Dennis Kucinich was. Is there any reason to hope for a better media performance this cycle round?
TAIBBI: No, its all the same. . . . The group of people who end up being on the bus are a group of upper-class people who are all from the same general background, and they're familiar and comfortable with each other and they're comfortable with the candidates culturally. They're living the high life when they're on the trail, they're mostly staying in five-star hotels. They get these delicious catered meals served to them four or five times a day. You get chocolates on your pillow, you get the best musicians in the city coming out to play for you everywhere you go. It's like a big summer camp, like a big field trip. . . .
If you break with the pack on the campaign trail and you're shunned, it's a very powerful thing. Nobody wants to do it, because to be friendless in that environment is very, very hard. There's no way out, they're the only people you ever see -- you're literally roped off from the rest of the world. There's a real Stockholm syndrome that goes on. . . . But to them, it all makes perfect sense because you never ever are exposed to anything that shines a negative light on it. They never see any other thing.
Like I said, read the whole thing, it's excellent - and sheds a lot of light on what really goes on, which is truly beyond pathetic.
UPDATE: There are numerous pieces out there on the "bus incident" - the great Bob Somerby has links and his own take on this today at http://dailyhowler.com/