Politico' s Calderone pimps GOPer party line

Maybe it's the stress of trying to find new ways justify the unjustifiable in carrying the GOP's water, but I don't think I've ever seen a a major media news outlet publish a sillier and more unbalanced screed than Calderone's attempt to make routine hirings at the White House into some kind of sinister plot. Citing as sources some of the leading voices of Wingnuttia, the Weekly Standard, the National Review, Brent Bozell and Michelle Malkin, (yes, this Malkin), Calderone is aghast that six whole journalists bailed from a dying industry to take a more secure job with this administration.

I've got two words for our befuddled 'journalist.' Tony Snow. And I could add Karen Hughes. Furthermore, at least these six are upfront about their employment. I mean who could forget Armstrong Williams? And then there's Cheney's great affection for Tim Russert, who presumably fluffed for love rather than money.

Steve Benen also notes that revolving door spins both ways.

What Bozell may not realize is how true a different dynamic is: when some left the Bush administration, what was the natural landing spot? Major media outlets. I know of at least seven prominent examples -- Michael Gerson joined the Washington Post; Sara Taylor became a pundit for MSNBC; Tony Snow joined CNN; Frances Fragos Townsend also joined CNN; Nicole Wallace was hired by CBS News; Dan Bartlett was also hired CBS News; and Karl Rove became a Fox News "analyst," a columnist for Newsweek, and a columnist for the Wall Street Journal.

Oddly, Calderone seems to have forgotten all this in the space of only a few weeks, since a Democrat was sworn in as POTUS. One might think such an unbalanced piece is the textbook definition of partisan bias.

[More posts daily at The Detroit News]