But just note — even as Klein gives back-handed praise to Gore’s work at these sessions, the tiny shiv must be sent to the chest. “Gore went on and on (and on),” Klein complains, as all in his cohort did before him, angered by the endless Q-and-A’s they were forced to stay and report on. How dare he take so many questions from so many actual voters? They longed to go home and watch King Kong; they longed to go back to the Wayfarer Inn and have seven beers with their pals—maybe eight. And yesterday, [Marueen] Dowd was angered, again, as a pol discussed a major problem. As we've long told you, these people are straight outta Marie Antoinette —and they just won't be treated this way. Their powdered wigs get all out of joint when pols make them think about problems. That's why they sit on Air Force 1 and watch Kong, skipping [the Michael] Hayden [hearings]. And that's why all pundits are calling Gore "nerd" as they opine about his new, weighty film. These are people who can't conceive of respect for actual mental attainment. Truly, they’re people who just can't imagine why we'd discuss a real problem. ...

Sadly, hapless Joe Klein is now becoming King of Press Scripts about Campaign 2000. It would be hard to find a more laughable book than his definingly awful Politics Lost — a book whose author can't argue his own basic themes for much more than a page at a time. But Klein offers simple-minded, dumb assessments of our recent White House races — and the usual suspects have appeared at the trough, eager to channel this wisdom. ...

For what it's worth, Klein may be the least coherent human being currently found on the planet. As everyone knows, he claims to be seeking an "authentic" politics, in which candidates defy their wretched consultants, speaking their real minds to the voters in inspiring "Turnip Day" moments. (Pages 23-24. A “Turnip Day” moment is a "spontaneous moment" that "gives us real insight into those who would lead us." In Turnip Day moments, a politician "shows us something of himself, something that hasn’t been pureed by pollsters.") And yet, when Klein discusses the Bush-Gore campaign, he constantly seems to praise Bush for hiding his soul — and he seems to criticize Gore for doing the opposite. ...

But why, exactly, did Candidate Gore have trouble seeming "authentic" and truthful [in the 2000 campaign]? Duh! Because these lies were typed again and again — and again, and again, and then ten times more! Klein, of course, evades this nicely, presenting a far more pleasing story—although he can’t seem to stick to his themes from one paragraph to the next. But so what? Dumb-ass pundits are typing Klein’s scripts — Dowd, and Heilemann, and Greene, and others — and many young liberals are being fooled about their lives in the process. Yes, we liberals are getting fooled once again, by a vacuous millionaire press corps—even as this inexcusable gang is scripting our next White House campaign. That next campaign—the one they’re now scripting—is going to be won by a saint.