Bonfire of the Vanities Over Unread Article

Vanity Fair's National Editor Todd Purdum recently wrote a piece—a 9,647-word piece—about Bill Clinton. And, needless to say, it hasn't gone over well in various circles. Speaking to a reporter from the Huffington Post after campaigning in San Diego, Clinton said of Purdum, “He’s a really dishonest reporter… And I haven’t read [the article]. But he told me there’s five or six just blatant lies in there. But he’s a real slimy guy.” Clinton would go on to call him "sleazy" and a "scumbag."

As retaliation, the Clinton corner released a 2,457-word response—brevity is the soul of wit—attacking Vanity Fair’s Editor-in-Chief Graydon Carter, who, they say is “unconscionable,” and “[capitalizes] on his position at Vanity Fair to explore consulting and investment deals.” Carter writes in an e-mail to Off the Record, “The responses from the former president and his camp are very saddening in their own ways… Characteristic, but nevertheless shocking.” As usual, Graydon: 1, Everyone Else: 0.