I used to not quite understand why the ranks of punditry and political journalism are populated largely by people who seem to not care at all about policy at all. I don't mean simply that the constraints of political journalism specifically supposedly require an objectivity (which only applies selectively but that's another issue) about such things, but that they honestly don't really give a shit. It matters more that dead John McCain might be sad than that we are torturing toddlers.
Of course this doesn't apply to all journalists. Some are doing that noble investigative reporting about politics which they all supposedly, but mostly don't, aspire to. The court intrigue journalists and the politics as theater criticism journalists and Chris Cillizza and oh God Chris Cillizza-wannabes.
But of course they just want to be on TMZ-for-politics. If you grow up thinking "I want to be a political journalist!" your model isn't "All The President's Men" or whatever, it's CNN gabfests. That could be me!
