This kind of shoddy reporting is in part what Sanders' candidacy is about; because the real problem with politics in this country is not simply that politicians themselves are lousy in so many ways (although many of them are very, very bad), it is that the press have failed us so completely. They do so little to help us weed out the scoundrels, the scum, the mendacious swine, the spineless panderers, the opportunistic sociopaths, the bought-and-paid-for. If the media were doing their jobs, those people wouldn't be able to get away with it. But the sad truth is, the media's industry is largely built on turning politics into soap opera -- as Sanders himself pointed out and had to live through on Sunday's typically egregious State of the Union. Hence the replay of Sen. Clair McCaskill's (D-MO) haplessly absurd, ostensibly deliberately obtuse remark that few in the media had called Sanders a socialist (even though almost every article and interview about him has, in fact, begun with that exact point. Just watching McCaskill desperately blink and gesticulate while she delivers that and other ill-aspected "observations" about Sanders is a painful reminder of what dishonest politicking looks like). Sanders had already responded to her comment a week and a half previously, which -- especially for a matter not related to policy -- should have been more than sufficient; but that didn't stop CNN's Jake Tapper from throwing it at Sanders in his lead question. Kind of like a soap opera; but really, more like a middle-school lunchroom.