The Biden Beach Party

Does an afternoon of leisure with senior administration officials violate journalistic ethics? To many, the self-evident answer is: "Absolutely." I have a different view, although perhaps it's a way to rationalize my own decision to attend the Bidens' first beach party for journalists. Later today, I'll lay out some thoughts about the ethics of all of this, but to whet appetites, here's a bit of video I recorded. The players include the president's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, David Sanger of the New York Times, and CNN's Wolf Blitzer. Note the teasing banter between Emanuel and Sanger. (Note, too, that shortly after I shot this video, Emanuel sprayed me in the shirt with his Super Soaker. I have a picture of that, too.)