Carlson moved on to the show Crossfire but the haphazard and seemingly random decisions continued. Carlson continues to relate his attempts to understand what was going on in the minds of those managing cable news programs. Carlson ultimately decides that the advice he got from Larry King is the best approach. What Carlson calls King's Law of Detachment permeates the rest of the book. King offered the following advice: "The trick is to care, but not too much. Give a shit - but not really." Carlson has tried to live by these words ever since and here is why:

In an environment like this, it's best not to link your sense of self too closely to the success of whatever show you happen to be working on. It could all end tomorrow, and likely will.

What follows is a series of vignettes and stories about life in the cable news world. Carlson relates his adventures with people such as James Carville, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Jerry Falwell, Monica Lewinsky's therapist, and countless politicians and media personalities. What it comes down to is that Carlson can respect people that have strongly held beliefs, even if he disagrees with those beliefs, but he can't stand phonies or hacks. He uses the people who gathered daily to spin President Clinton's problems everyday as an example of bright and well educated people allowing themselves to be used for purely partisan purposes. Carlson is puzzled why people act in this way:

I'm not a shrink so I don't understand the psychology. I do know that I have as much contempt for these people as their own bosses do, and when they come on my show, I'm apt to lose my temper.
Ideologues, by contrast, almost never make me mad. No matter how crackpot the opinion, I can respect a deeply held view. I may not believe that the earth is flat, but if you sincerely do, I won't hate you for it. We've had a lot of true believers on Crossfire. I don't think I have yelled at one. Secretly, I admire many of them.

Along the way Carlson tells some interesting stories. He relates how he had a little too much to drink before calling in for a public radio interview. The hosts were not nearly as interested in the fact that he was in the same room where presidential advisor Dick Morris got caught with a hooker, as they were in getting him off the air. He discusses his interaction with Monica Lewinsky's therapist who couldn't resist the need to talk as well as a psychologist and Ross Perot supporter whose professional qualifications seemed in doubt. He talks about his experience with the John McCain presidential campaign, about the bus driver who became a good luck charm but who had a drinking problem (Carlson: "Ultimately, I came to see Greg [the bus driver] as a living metaphor for the McCain campaign: reckless, drunken, slightly demented.").