Quote of the day: Dept. of R-rated analogies
It occurred to me, as I sat there watching an interracial couple banging, that jacking off in a hotel room was not unlike the larger experience of campaign reporting. You watch two performers. You kind of like it when one of them gets humiliated. You know they’re professionals, so you don’t feel much sympathy for them. You wish you could participate, but instead you watch with a hidden envy and feel vaguely ashamed for watching. You think you could probably do as good a job or better. You sometimes get a glimpse, intentionally or not, of society’s hidden desires and fears. You watch the porn week after week, the scenes almost always the same, none of them too memorable. The best ones get sent around the Internet.
– Michael Hastings, writing for GQ, in a story about his time on the campaign trail leading up to the 2008 election, regarding some enlightening conclusions he came to on the nature of the political contest.
Caveat Lector 
I took a swan dive into this piece, imagining you were trying to stake out journalistic/literary territory somewhere between Hunter S Thompson and P J O’Rourke. Imagine my shock when, just before I hit the surface, I realised you’d posted a quote from someone else. Disappointing at one level…but very entertaining. Thank you…
Would if I could take credit for it, but it is actually by Michael Hastings, a writer I’ve discovered with a similar style to the aforementioned individuals. And if I could ever be considered half good enough to exist in the rarified air of their company, I will die very, very happy.