"Rip-off Artist And Gay?"

by The Cranky Media Guy

Matt Drudge

It's about time we got around to Matt Drudge. This web site has been compared to his a few times, so I guess it was inevitable that he'd end up as Weasel of the Week some day.

For the record, let me say that I think the comparison is kind of silly. This site has new, original material several days a week while Drudge's is at least 90% links to other people's stuff and rewrites of wire service reports. OK, so we both wear hats. So do Fidel Castro and Santa Claus; that doesn't mean that you should be waiting for a Cuban dictator to come down your chimney on Christmas Eve. Ah, but I digress.

Drudge isn't the Weasel this week because some people consider him the Scourge of the Internet. Although I don't always agree with him, I kind of like it when he stirs things up. There should be more people annoying politicians, not fewer. Those assholes are way too comfortable.

It's his new book, The Drudge Manifesto that got him the honor. It's, uh, how can we say this? El Rip-off Grande. At first glance, it looks like it's 247 pages, which would be respectable, but it's got more filler in it than a factory full of Twinkies. Subtract from the 247 pages:

40 blank pages

31 pages of fan mail

24 pages of recycled crap from his web site

13 pages of a question and answer session from 3 years ago.

10 pages of titles and copyright notices, etc.

6 pages of quotes from other people

4 pages of a chat transcript

3 pages containing only a large zero

2 pages containing only a large "1"

1 page containing only a small zero

1 page listing Drudge's favorite web sites

Do the math. What I come up with is 112 pages of actual new stuff. Gee, Matt, do you think you could have tried just a little harder? I mean, the retail price on this thing is $22.95. No one was expecting Moby Dick, but sheesh! We know you're busy and all, but so is Mick Foley of the WWF and he managed to write an actual book--in longhand--while flying from city to city. His book has no fluff in it and it's well-written, so it can be done, Matt.

Oh, and what's the deal with listing a chapter on George W. Bush and then not including it in the book? Last-minute panic on the part of the publisher's lawyers or a cutesy attempt at a joke?

You know what you could have done to lengthen the book, Matt? You could have addressed the allegations made earlier this year in another author's book that you're gay. I'm sure you remember, Matt. The book said that you were a fixture in gay bars in L.A. during the 70's and your lame reply was that you weren't living in LA at that time. That's kinda like Dubya saying he hasn't done drugs in the last 17 years (or whatever time period it was he finally decided on). It doesn't exactly answer the question, you know?

I mean, it really isn't a big deal whether or not you're gay, Matt. It's just that you've had no problem reporting the intimate details of other people's lives on your web site. Remember when you reported that that Washington guy was a wife beater? Remember how it turned out that there was no actual evidence of that? Remember how his multi-million dollar libel suit against you is still pending? A big brave muckraker like you shouldn't have any problem with people knowing the details of his own life, right? So, what's the deal, Matt? What side of the plate are you hitting from? Enquiring minds want to know.

If you had applied the same standards to reporting on yourself that you've used on others, you could have filled up at least some of those 40 blank pages. Maybe then this "247 page" doorstop you have on the market would be worth reading. You didn't, so it isn't. Because of your double standard when it comes to talking about your own life and because your book sucks, you, Matt Drudge, are the Weasel of the Week.

Check-out some of the weasels of the recent past!. Visit the Hall of Shame section of The Crank Tank.