THE BONFIRE OF THE VANITY FAIR: Emo, Childish Beto Supporters Think He Got ‘Punitive’ Media Coverage.

As I wrote a few hours before Beto kick-turned his skateboard out of the race, this is why a media that largely consists of Democratic Party operatives with bylines hurts their candidates. In the mid-1920s, H.L. Mencken wrote, “It is the prime function of a really first-rate newspaper to serve as a sort of permanent opposition in politics.” And a decent politician knew how to rise above that coverage. Today, anything less than glowing 5,000 word profiles to accompany Reagan-esque Vanity Fair covers by Annie Leibovitz (as Jon Gabriel noted last week at Ricochet, the source of our headline) is considered “punitive” media coverage.

Related: ABC’s Joy Behar Says Beto Shouldn’t Have Warned Americans He Was Going To Take Their Guns. “‘They should not tell everything they’re going to do,’ Behar jumped in then, suggesting that candidates shouldn’t warn Americans the gun confiscation was coming. ‘If you are going to take people’s guns away, wait until you get elected and then take them away. Don’t tell them ahead of time.’ [Meghan] McCain pushed back, adding, ‘By the way, that’s what people like me think you’re going to do, so I appreciate his honesty.’”