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It’s been a perfect week for the release of Glenn Greenwald’s new book, Great American Hypocrites: Toppling the Big Myths of Republican Politics. The ABC debate this week could not have demonstrated more clearly the degree to which political coverage of Democrats is dictated by petty, personal, right wing-driven analysis. While John McCain refers to the press as "my base," Democrats have to answer to lapel pins and the actions of people they are only vaguely associated with.

Glenn’s book reconstructs the history of past presidential elections to elucidate how the script for Democrats is already written — rendering them effete, out of touch, soft, elitist and vaguely un-American. Events like Barack Obama’s bad bowling performance, or "bittergate" are then assembled into a caricature where they take on meanings much larger and more significant in the public eye than anything they are deserving of.

Republicans, on the other hand, are cast as heroic, towering, codpiece-wearing manly men who can protect the babies from the bogeymen. The media portrait of John McCain is virtually identical to the one that sold the nation George Bush. In his book, Glenn argues that until we start examining the lives of Republicans with the same scrutiny that the press accords to Democrats — until we start talking about how John McCain walked out on his first wife after she was handicapped in a car accident for a rich woman much younger than him who financed his political career, how he referred to her with the "c" word, or his threats of violence against other members of Congress — the playing field will not be level.

Please give Glenn a big welcome.