"People now come here to get rich," explains Mark Leibovich, chief national correspondent for The New York Times Magazine and author of the DC-centered book This Town: Two Parties and a Funeral—plus plenty of valet parking!—in America's Gilded Capital. "Twenty years ago, theoretically, this was a city built on public service."
From the ugly networking at Tim Russert's funeral to the incestuous relationship between media and politicians to the naked desire to cash out on one's "public service" by becoming a lobbyist, Leibovich's horrifying peek at life within Washington's elite has something to offend every American.
"What I try to do is give voice to the entire carnival here," Leibovich tells Reason's Nick Gillespie. "[I wanted] to give readers outside of Washington…a fuller sense of what the full movie looks like."
Approx. 12:30 minutes.
Produced by Meredith Bragg. Camera by Joshua Swain and Bragg.