The Ideological Emptiness of “PlayBook”
The controversy over Politico’s decision to publish Ben Shapiro reveals the lengths media outlets will go to prove they listen to both sides.
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Ben Shapiro almost certainly got what he wanted out of a stint guest-hosting Politico’s flagship “Playbook” newsletter last Thursday. His turn at the helm—he followed Chris Hayes, Ken Burns, Yamiche Alcindor, James Bennet, and others, all of whom were filling in before a new quartet takes over on Inauguration Day—was, by his standards, unspectacular. Shapiro, who at 37 resembles a sadistic junior camp counselor, has in the past claimed that 800 million Muslims were “radicalized” around the world and that Arabs “like to live in open sewage,” while suggesting that Trayvon Martin deserved to be murdered. In “Playbook,” however, he merely argued that Republicans oppose Trump’s impeachment because “members of the opposing political tribe want their destruction, not simply to punish Trump for his behavior.”