... and described how starting in sportscasting and dealing with highly paid athletes gave him a high degree of skepticism.

Isn't it ironic that the best journalists, the people with the most skepticism about the lies behind the propaganda, come from Rolling Stone, from a guy who started at ESPN, and from Comedy Central?

Rather than confront how hilarious it is that the best current journalists are those who happened on it accidentally, it's easier to simply gate the community and claim that critics "don't know anything about journalism" than to confront the question of why your profession got it so wrong and why the amateurs (whether they be blogger/attorneys, former sportscasters, comedians or people writing in Rolling Stone.

Probably the best advice for Mr. King comes not from a real journalist but from Lester Bangs, former Rolling Stone Writer Cameron Crowe's character from Almost Famous. As he's talking to young aspiring journalist William Miller he says,

"My advice to you. I know you think those guys are your friends. You wanna be a true friend to them? Be honest, and unmerciful."

And "You CANNOT make friends with the rock stars... you will get free records from the record company. And they'll buy you drinks, you'll meet girls, they'll try to fly you places for free, offer you drugs... I know. It sounds great. But they are not your friends. These are people who want you to write sanctimonious stories about the genius of the rock stars, and they will ruin rock and roll and strangle everything we love about it."

Like Matt Taibbi, doesn't Lester Bangs get what keeps the profession professional more than Mr. King and most of his colleagues?

Better yet, King should remember the two words I.F. Stone used to tell his audiences to never forget: "Governments lie."

Maybe if the professional journalists had remembered these two words approximately 3900 American lives wouldn't have been lost in Iraq nor about 29,000 wounded. Maybe if King remembered these two words, he'd be criticizing John McCain or George Bush instead of Glenn Greenwald.

... about "he who has the gold makes the rules" has been modernized to read "he who has the gold not only makes the rules, but can change them, retroactively, when caught breaking them."

Molly Ivins, toward the end of her life, (in a quote I can't find) questioned whether our supposed watchdog organizations and institutions were truly up to the task of standing up to another executive branch which believes, again, that "when the President does it, it's not against the law."

I keep going back to Moyers' statement that today "the delusional is no longer marginal." In fact, it's not only marginal, it's now become bipartisan.

... from McCain's daughter's blog. About half way down, you can see Ms. Bailey in a pose that would make I.F. Stone puke. Remember these "journalists" have all been granted specific First Amendment rights because of the essential role they play in keeping citizens informed in a democracy.

http://www.mccainblogette.com/

That's right. Newsweek! According to her blog, Meghan McCain "graduated in May from Columbia University with a major in Art History... Her previous job experiences include working at "Saturday Night Live" and "Newsweek". She is a Scorpio."

Compare the message Meghan leaves under the "Viewer Mail" portion of her blog with the one St. John would like to send to reporters who left their five star to go to his "ranch." Aren't they basically the same? As Meghan says,

"Recently I described how lucky I am to have the opportunities, friends and family I have. Well, you can add one more to that list: YOU. We have been blown away by the messages we've received in the last week alone. There's lots of love out there and it's so reassuring to see how many if you are so passionate about what we're doing. Anytime I need some extra energy, I just have to read the latest message and it's all there. Our entire family is so grateful for your support. There's still a lot of work ahead, but you'll be with us every step of the way. We've got some really great things we're working on and we think you'll love the journey. You guys rock!"

http://www.mccainblogette.com/docs/viewer/