Description
Across the span of his 35-year career reporting on local, state, and national politics, USA TODAY White House correspondent Richard Benedetto has interviewed and closely watched a wide variety of politicians and public servants. This memoir and personal reflection considers the coverage and treatment of politics and politicians by today's media and offers suggestions for improvement.
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Lest we rise up and take arms against the very notion expressed by the title, let us remind ourselves we elected the little darlings. Journalist Benedetto, whose beat includes the White House, provides a combination of memoir and reflection on those about whom he has written for 35 years. Throwing in a few mere mortals like Bob Hope and Frank Sinatra for relief, Benedetto describes how in his encounters with a range of politicians he has discovered nearly all to be at least sincere, and most to be doing the best job they can without much support from a mass media that delights in taking pelts. Nevertheless, some of the behaviors he describes, in front of a reporter no less, border on the bizarre. Most vignettes, however, show elected officials tend to believe they have an honest calling to do good for America. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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