Getting In Their Last Digs

Matt Taibbi–the poor man’s, poor man’s, poor man’s Hunter S. Thompson--offers some "Campaign Memories" to an indifferent world in the current issue of Rolling Stone. No surprises here--Hillary Clinton is still a scheming monster, and John McCain sat on her lap learning how to fight dirty:

But when push came to shove, both politicians went completely Tonya Harding on Barack Obama. In an April debate in Philadelphia, the same Hillary who spent her husband's presidency unfairly bashed as a Marxist pariah squawked about Obama's relationship to Bill Ayers, pointing out that Ayers said on 9/11 he wished he had "done more." Months later, McCain said the same thing, wailing about how Ayers wished he had "bombed more." From Jeremiah Wright, to Obama's supposed vote for graphic sex ed for kindergartners, to the photos of Obama in Muslim garb Hillary's camp reportedly sent to the Drudge Report, to the "scandalous" information about Obama Bob Novak claimed the Hillary camp was holding, to Obama's connections to ACORN, to the constant lies and innuendo about Obama being a Muslim (he isn't, "as far as I know," Hillary told 60 Minutes), the Clinton and McCain campaigns were one long, unabashed, scorched-earth attempt at character assassination.

Here we go:


1) The Drudge story is a lie. 2) The Novak, ACORN, and sex ed stories have nothing to do with Hillary, and are just cheap, lazy-ass smears. 3) Barack Obama himself threw Jeremiah Wright under the bus, but not before dispatching his minions to excoriate Clinton for saying she would have left that church long ago. 4) Bill Ayers? Well, if Hillary Clinton is responsible for every syllable that comes out of Geraldine Ferraro’s mouth, I think it’s fair to ask Obama to comment on the behavior of his sketchier associates--particularly when they’ve blown stuff up! 5) Ah, the 60 Minutes distortion. Watch the video here. Steve Kroft asks Clinton three times if she thinks Obama is a Muslim, and the third time she finally uses the phrase, "as far as I know." (She looks like she’ll say anything to get Kroft to shut up. And since when does Hillary have to be an expert on Barack’s religious life?)


Nobody expects much journalism from Rolling Stone. (By the way, take a look at the current issue–it’s shrunk to the size of Entertainment Weekly.) And I wouldn’t be surprised if the next person to buy a copy of Matt Taibbi’s latest book is also the first. (I know a bit about these matters. Sales of The Great Derangement have been . . . less than brisk.) But Taibbi shows us that the newest new journalism can suck just as bad as the old stuff–and be just as dishonest.