Reading power lists — those loathsome magazine compilations of the best and most publicized — is a bit like watching the sausage get made, with the “sausage” being conventional wisdom. Here’s the sausage from vampy men’s mag Details. A Details PR rep sent The Revealer a press release noting that megachurch pastor Joel Osteen is #21 on the list. Other religious types cleared for mainstream media consumption: Baitullah Mehsud, the Pakistani Taliban leader described as a “provocative” entrepreneur of holy war (#4 on the list); “The Palin Bunch” (#5); “The Badass Buddhists,” Tibetan monks who, according to Details, are as exciting as a 70s martial arts movie (#23); and Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal (#27). What do they have in common? Nothing! Power lists such as these are snapshots of the borg-like mind of a New York magazine, the filter through which politics becomes pop and religion gets made over as retro. The only difference between Details and a news organization is that Details is a little more honest about its fascinations.