Damn fine deconstruction of the gossip trade, the surest indication of the dishonesty of any newspaper. Gossip is certainly fun, and I suppose it has its purposes (especially when it involves my many enemies), but journalistic endeavors always use it instead as a substitute for real reporting on entertainment, or, in this case, politics. In effect, gossip is a more benign version of what Eason Jordan fessed up to last week [link via Atrios].