Ben Bradlee

Source: Miguel Ariel Contreras Drake-McLaughlin

Oh well, now we have Trump to kick around, and the media sure is kicking. Dubious accusations about conspiracies and criminal shenanigans are reported daily as facts, and they remind me so much of the 1973–74 climate when the press smelled blood and decided Nixon had to go. Richard Nixon always said that an elitist cabal was working secretly to bring him down. The present cabal of The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, and CNBC are doing exactly the same thing, but not secretly. Steve Bannon, who just scored big in the land of pasta—President Mozzarella followed one order too many from Brussels for even the Italians—had warned Trump about the deep state. Even I, the poor little Greek boy, had written about it before The Donald took the oath of office. Now we know. The deep state is the 25,000-pound gorilla that the news media ignores while bringing you fake news daily.

Otherwise everything’s hunky-dory. I’ve been hitting the hot spots with Michael Mailer and a few young beauties, and getting insulted as a result. I announced my betrothal to Inga, who is 24, and a horrible old woman from the next table yelled, “For God’s sake, don’t do it, old men are disgusting!” I didn’t dare open my mouth. There is a Spanish Inquisition going on as a result of Harvey’s shenanigans—incidentally, Weinstein has as much chance of getting a fair trial as the #MeToo movement would have had in ancient Sparta—and old men like me, out with younger women, are on the sisterhood’s hit list.

Never mind. The big news is Pose, the transgender TV show that immerses itself in 1980s New York. All the transgender characters are played by transgender actors, and—surprise, surprise—the coverage has been ecstatic. The New York Times is even thinking of changing its motto to “All the Perversions We Can Fit in Print,” but it’s not official. One more week to go in the Bagel and then I’m off to the grandest wedding ever. In Austria, near Salzburg. Watch this space.

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