Congress is no longer the clubby place it once was, where senators and congressmen from either side of the aisle could put away their partisan differences and socialize after hours. That's too bad too because the camaraderie was useful in bringing opposing sides together on compromise that moved legislation forward.
Meanwhile, the club is alive and well, thriving like never before, among the celebrity journalist class. A little more partisan rancor in the Fourth Estate could lead to a more informed public; there camaraderie helps keep us in the dark on important issues of the day. A case in point, from the Washington Monthly Cover Story on conservative columnist and TV pundit Bob Novak:
Colleagues like [Paul] Begala say that they don't question Novak about the Plame case out of personal loyalty. “Look, he's a friend of mine,� Begala said to me. “I know that he can't talk about it. I respect that fact, so I don't bring it up.�
If that's not bad enough:
But there's another reason they don't ask. Novak won't let them. The topic hasn't come up on “The Capital Gang,� for instance, because, according to one source at CNN, “Bob is the executive producer and he has more say than anybody else…He won't talk about it.� Novak's role at the show means that he gets to determine what subjects do—and, more importantly, do not—get discussed. But couldn't one of the other panelists bring it up, even so? “You have to understand,� said the source, “this is Bob's show. He's the boss.�
