Club Inbred

Nice to see that this year's circle-jerk, minus Stephen Colbert, was every bit as edifying as it is every other year:

President George Bush’s choice not to make jokes, and comedian Rich Little’s somewhat poor attempt to make them, resulted in an unusual White House Correspondent’s Association Dinner Saturday as celebrities and politicians mixed, mingled and dined.

One highlight: singer Sheryl Crow, on a cross-country global warming awareness trip, got into it with Karl Rove. Jawing like a baseball manager and an umpire arguing a call, Crow and Rove were disagreeing over global warming, with Crow’s pal, Laurie David, offering support.

Approached afterward about the exchange, Rove said he was enjoying it all, “if I can get to my meal.”

....

Just a few feet from the podium, Rove was found at The New York Times table, in discussions with the likes of D.C. Bureau Chief Dean Baquet and columnist Maureen Dowd. When asked why the paper, which often battles the White House, chose to invite Rove, Dowd said, “I don’t do the inviting anymore.”

Uh-huh, because MoDo's so above it all, she would have invited somebody meaningful, or at least not evil, right?

Yeah, right.

As we've griped far too many times, your pundits and commentators simply refuse to acknowledge their own role in shaping public perceptions of politicians. Case in point: Maureen Dowd, who devotes an entire column today to John Edwards' hair.

Noting that Edwards' $400 haircut is yet another sign of the alleged tendency of Dem male candidates to act like wussies (a storyline she's done as much as anyone else to create), Dowd writes:

John Kerry sank himself by windsurfing in spandex and ordering a cheese steak in Philly with Swiss instead of Cheez Whiz.

Fine. I want to know how much Muff Romney's haircuts cost, then. I want to know what Mrs. Doubtfire Rudy Giuliani's makeover budget is. I think we deserve to know what Fred Thompson's Viagra budget is. Hell, let's find out how much Maureen Dowd spends on her hair.

I say there's no limit to how superficial and inane the coverage can get, led by the brave ass-spelunking of our nation's finest Serious Media Commentators. Really, why bother discussing what Edwards' actual positions are, when we can smugly point and repeat the "Breck Girl" refrain passed on to Rush Limbaugh three years ago from "anonymous White House staffers".

And all so they can play grab-ass once a year with the people they cover, not to mention Teri Hatcher and Valerie Bertinelli. Is it any wonder we end up with such scintillating choices every four years, with useless schmoozers like these dictating the narrative?