Media Elite Collective Depression Chronicles

That groaning sound you hear over the roar of red state joy is the sound of Eastern Seaboard leftie journos and Hollywood Studio execs in a state of existential anxiety that even their Klonopin prescriptions cannot render mute. There is no surprise top any that George Bush's Presidential victory might render these journos collectively depressed. Ford Wright reports for FashionWiredaily:

"'Anna Wintour, Editor-in-Chief of Vogue celebrated her own birthday the day before, but she admitted feeling somewhat cursed this year having her birthday fall in the wake of such a divisive election. 'Well, it was my birthday yesterday and I was so depressed. I just stayed in bed all day,' she said."

And she's not alone in the angst. George Gurley and Jake Brooks of The Observer report from Harvey Weinstein and Georgette Mosbacher's bipartisan election-viewing party:

"Outside, Tina Brown stood with husband Harry Evans and looked lost. 'I was feeling completely joyful, now I feel like I need an ice pack on my head.'"

WWD's Jeff Bercovici and Sara James masterfully interviewed a bunch of media elites, including Vanity Fair's Graydon Carter:

"WHERE HE WATCHED: 'In my kitchen, with my fiance�e, my kids and about a dozen friends. I packed it in around 1:30 [a.m.].'

"HOW BUSH WON: 'Americans voted with their prayer book rather than their pocketbook. [Now] Democrats are going to have to learn how to talk to America?s heart rather than its head.'

"SECOND-TERM FORECAST: 'A solid, right-wing Supreme Court. More deficits. Mortgage defaults. Bankruptcies. The defeat of Roe v. Wade. Further isolationism. War with Iran. The end of irony.'"

And, finally WWD interviewed GQ's Editor in Chief Jim Nelson:

"'I wanted to kick my television. The viewing audience had a far clearer picture of the general drift of the election earlier than the networks were letting on. I preferred even the smugness of Robert Novak to the waltzing around that some of the other anchors were doing ... 'I?m anticipating Secretary of State Travis Tritt. It?s really depressing.'"

Feel their pain here.

On the other end of the spectrum, The New York Times, which endorsed Kerry, gives, as the dictates of media power elite etiquette demands, the customary blow job to Roger Ailes and his newfound power:

"In a telephone interview on Friday, Mr. Ailes wrestled with that identity crisis, alternating between exultation at the network's lead over CNN in the United States and expressions of hope that his employees would ignore what they had achieved.

"'Everything in life is in your mind,'' Mr. Ailes said. 'As long as we operate as underdogs, we're underdogs. The day we think we're No. 1, someone's going to sit down. And I don't want to walk into the newsroom and find anyone sitting down for very long.

"'Being in the establishment has nothing to do with numbers,'' he added. 'We'll always be the scrappy kids with the nose up against the glass.' To keep his staff hungry and maintain an us-vs.-them mentality, Mr. Ailes keeps upping the ante. Being the top-rated news channel on cable is far from his ultimate goal - he wants Fox News to be the top-rated cable network, period. That would mean nearly doubling its average daily viewership of 1.1 million to pass Nickelodeon."

SpongeBob SquarePants watching "libs"!