_______________ SPURIOUS GEORGE: A GEEK TRAGEDY BY JAKE TAPPER (03/19/99)
	The ferociously greedy, self-promoting, amoral caricature Jake Tapper draws of George Stephanopoulos is at complete odds with the man I knew when he was, at 25, the youngest and one of the brightest, warmest and, yes, savviest chiefs of staff to any member of Congress at the time. If savvy and ambition were a crime, the District of Columbia would be the biggest prison complex in the world. My advice for Tapper is to get over his Pollyanna complex and recognize that only ambitious people have the resilience to sustain themselves in a life where they are constantly vulnerable to ad hominem attacks from people paid to vent their envious rages before an audience. What really seems to gall Tapper, though, is that Stephanopoulos not only succeeded in helping Clinton win election twice, but had the nerve to be self-aware and courageous enough ultimately to throw into question both his own motives and the character of the man he had so admired. To present Clinton's flaws as obvious and Stephanopoulos as either thick or corrupt for not coming to grips with them sooner is to utterly ignore the spell that consummate politician Clinton put not just on Stephanopoulos, not just on "Miss Lewinsky," but on the entire nation for so long. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if Tapper voted for the man himself. Anyhow, I was taking all this very seriously up until the end, where Tapper's own bio stood revealed in all its glory. So Tapper's own debut as a published author is a tabloid-style quickie bio on 1999's celebrity-politician flavor of the year ("Body Slam: The Jesse Ventura Story")? Let's see now, how did Tapper finish up his hatchet job on one of the driving forces behind the first Clinton Administration's policy agenda? "As opportunistic, exploitative and phony as Clinton can be at his lip-biting, tear-faking worst, at least he's managed to enact some effective policies. Stephanopoulos is just trying to make money." Pot. Kettle. Black. You know the rest. -- Jason Warburg Jake Tapper's review of George Stephanopoulos' new book barely made a blip on our radar screen until we happened to glance at the byline. Jake Tapper, hmmm, that name sounds familiar. Where have we heard it before? Oh yeah, Tapper is the reporter who made his stunning splash in the Washington City Paper just days after the Lewinsky scandal broke. His claim to fame: a garishly colored, tabloid-esque cover proclaiming the inside scoop on "My Date With Monica" -- his single date with Monica Lewinsky. It is fascinating to consider Tapper's snide comments of Stephanopoulos' "dish" in light of Tapper's exposé article in which he manages to spin a very short uneventful date into a very long self-congratulatory article. I find it particularly ironic that Tapper would write in his Salon review that "There's little actual news in the book beyond its having been written at all. " The same could certainly be said of his article about Monica. But despite that fact, his article certainly caught everyone's attention, and now look, here's Tapper scarcely a year later writing for Salon as their new Washington correspondent. He seems to be moving up in the world. Betrayal as a career move indeed. -- Brecht Donoghue & Shanti Nayak Washington Jake Tapper's hysterical, brilliantly written take on George Stephanopoulos' "All Too Human" was spot-on. Can't wait for Tapper's next output. Added to your already amazing contributors, congratulations on producing the best and most relevant journalism in the country. There's Salon and there's everybody else. -- Robert Glass After reading this review, I have no idea if "All Too Human" is a good book or a bad one. I know that Jake Tapper hates the author, and is in disagreement with basically everything the author did in his years in the administration. I know that Tapper felt it necessary to mention a really crass detail from the Starr Report in his first reference to the president. I know Tapper's opinions on the administration and his agenda. But I know very little about the book and its qualities. And then I was stunned to find out that this zealot has become Salon's new Washington correspondent! When did this happen, and what were you thinking? What ever happened to at least feigning objectivity? How can I trust anything written in Salon in the future about Washington if it comes from this man? Are you overcompensating for press reports in the last year that (incorrectly, in my opinion) portrayed Salon as a lapdog and defender of the administration? -- Scott Hoenig I am a good, loyal, liberal Democrat, but having watched President Clinton engage in so many betrayals in the service of his career -- among others, Lani Guinier, Susan McDougal, blacks, gays, women, the poor, his wife and daughter, his staffers, the American people and our allies overseas, all of whom he has lied to as a matter of course -- it's hard for me to join in Jake Tapper's condemnation of George Stephanopoulos. At least I can still buy it when Stephanopoulos expresses regret for some of the things he's done, while his former boss remains clearly unrepentant and a far worse "bullying asshole" (Tapper's phrase) than Stephanopoulos could ever dread becoming. -- John Squier
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