A Little of the Old In And Out

In: Andrew Breitbart. Whether or not one thinks Breitbart is the future of journalism or a partisan sleaze-hack (and guess where this blogger falls on that question), his victory over Congressman Weiner was so swift, so total, so complete, he even scooped the poor man's confession.

Fair enough.

It was, to be sure, Breitbart's "Kanye Moment ("Imma let you finish")," his bum-rushing the stage all sharp elbows and ambition in a hurry to be fully realized. Even questions as to whether or not Breitbart is a "real journalist" appear antique, decidedly Old Media. Whatever Andrew Breitbart is, he is relevant and vital whether one agrees with his politics or not.  Brietbart has been angling for some attention on the media veldt for some time and now, and after bagging some big game, he has his moment. It was thoroughly cold-blooded; a singularly brutal moment in the American political gladiatorial fundament. Breitbart desecrated the political corpse before the Weiner was even cold.

And whether or not one thinks Breitbart is the future of journalism or a brutal motherfucker (and guess where this blogger falls on that question), he has definitely earned his spot the new media landscape. Even WashPo gave him a gentle pat on the back (And then, so doubt, used a wet wipe).

Is this la nouvelle journalistique?

Out: The Democrats Prospects. Regarding the House of Representatives, much of the momentum of the victory in NY's 26th district has been swallowed up by WeinerGate; regarding the United States Senate, the announcement of the retirement of Senator Boren of Oklahoma -- one of the few remaining conservative Democrats -- bodes ill for retaining control of that august body; regarding the Presidency, Obama has lost the post-Osama bump and with the economy looking increasingly double-dippy, he is in a dead-heat in the polls with Romney.

No way around it: the prospects of the democrats in the next election cycle doesn't look so hot. At least for the moment.

In: Media Moguls are Obsessed with Beauty. Who would have thought that thumotic media moguls are such King Kongs in the face of beauty. Peter Brant's obsession with "keeping" beautiful things is quite obvious (Averted Gaze). Other media moguls it appears are equally obsessed. From AdAge:

The most expensive work of art privately traded—indeed, one of the most expensive objects ever sold, including real estate—belonged to the Hollywood mogul David Geffen, who many critics believe has the best private collection in existence. This work—a Jackson Pollock painting called No. 5, 1948—was sold in November 2006 by Geffen to Mexican collector David Martínez Guzman for $151.8 million. What might be the second-most expensive art work ever traded also belonged to Geffen: Willem de Kooning’s Woman III, sold to hedge funder Steve Cohen in 2006 for an estimated $149.1 million.

(Making this sale all the more exotic was that Geffen obtained the painting in 1994 through a secret deal with a Tehran museum in a swap for a 16th-century Persian manuscript, which was passed from Geffen’s hands on an Iranian air strip.)

Another Hollywood veteran as well known for his art as his producing credits is Douglas Cramer, who moved from advertising to ABC and then Paramount TV, creating some of America’s most popular—if least artistic—shows, from The Brady Bunch and Star Trek to Dynasty. While he assembled his famous collection, he also founded the L.A. Museum of Contemporary Art.

The next most-exalted private collection in the U.S. belongs to Si Newhouse, the Condé Nast chairman, who while turning the low-rent, Seventh Avenue trade house he inherited from his father into the most prestigious magazine publisher in the country, was also turning himself into an incomparable aesthete.

Run, Stephanie, run (because that Trophy Wife sculpture by Maurizio Cattelan that "pokes out like a pair of deer's antlers over the fireplace" in Brant's library is seriously creepy).