This Guy Gets It, and Knows How to Write It

Unlike most journalists who cover politics, Matt Taibbi really truly gets what's going on - and isn't afraid to tell the truth. He's a terrific writer (everytime I read his work I feel like, compared to him, I can't put two words together). He gave a great Q&A about his new book "Spanking the Donkey" at Salon.com. Here are some of the best parts:

TAIBBI ON VOTER TURNOUT IN 2004: "When one hundred million people don't vote, the nation is not bitterly divided. The nation mostly doesn't give a shit."

TAIBBI ON THE DECLINE OF JOURNALISM: "There used to be different kinds of people who were journalists. There were real cynics, there were drunks, there were hardened smokers, and now there's this glamour and glow that goes along with being a part of the press corps. I guess what I'm trying to do is take away some of that glow and make it clear it's not quite as cool as they make it out to be. I don't know if that has an effect or not, but that's sort of the strategy."

TAIBBI ON WHAT IT IS LIKE TO COVER THE PRESS: "There was one guy from the Times who actually asked me to step outside. He complained that I had insulted Jodi Wilgoren because I said she looked like Ernest Borgnine, and he sent me an e-mail basically saying, 'Let's fight.'"

TAIBBI ON THE STATE OF AMERICAN POLITICS: "The genius of the Russian system was its appeal to people's laziness. They said, 'Look, get drunk, don't do any work at all, we'll give you just enough money to live, and we'll take care of everything else.' That's what Soviet Russia was all about: Live in your shitty village, we'll give you cheap vodka, and we'll take care of your medical bills, and you don't have to worry about all that other stuff. They counted on the fact that Russians would rather wallow in their own shit than organize and protest anything that's actually happening in their country. It is really kind of similar to what's going on here."

TAIBBI ON POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS: "If you look at the campaign, it's not an interaction between the candidate and the voters. The media is selling the campaign to its audience. It's a top-down process. The only time the public even appears is through poll numbers. It really is a giant commercial, and I spent most of my time trying to figure out what it was a commercial for."

Read the whole interview on Salon.com - it's terrific. He is one of the most talented writers working today - and his book is terrific.