He wouldn't keep screwing over the gay community, civil libertarians, and the liberal wing of the Democratic Party if he didn't really love us.

It's our fault that he has to keep betraying our causes; we don't support him enough. Besides, where else is there to go? Who could we go to? The alternatives are so much worse.

Maybe if we tried to make ourselves a little more attractive to him once in a while, he might pay more attention to us. All that flirting he's doing with the right wing? It's because he doesn't get enough loving at home, from us.

He's a good man, really. We just need to show him more appreciation, be more attentive to his needs. I'm sure he'll come around before much longer. You'll see. It will all be like the old days, back during the campaign. Remember all the sweet things he used to say? How he was going to oppose FISA, telecommunications amnesty, DADT, torture, the abolition of habeas corpus, secret prisons, genocide denial, and all that? He really meant those things, I'm sure. He's just waiting for the right time, that's all.

Things are a little stressed right now. It's hard for him. But he still loves us, deep down. See, he gave the gay community all those rights. Okay, they're only for federal employees. All right, all the most important benefits were left out. But it's the thought that matters, isn't it?

It's all our fault, really. We don't deserve rights. But we'll make things right. We'll put on our nicest outfits, make ourselves look pretty, and he'll love us again.

Just wait. You'll see.

The cowards at WaPo have disabled all comments on White House Watch, so I wasn't able to post this:

According to Politico and other sources, the Washington Post has fired Dan and terminated White House Watch.

I, for one, won't be coming back.

I just realized that Dan will now be available to blog for Salon! If Joan has half a brain in her head, she'll snap him up instantly.

Here's the address for the Post's obudsman. He's completely in the pocket of the neocons, but if enough people write to him, maybe his masters will at least get slightly nervous:

ombudsman@washpost.com

Personally, I wrote and told him that Dan Froomkin's last day at the Post would be my last day too. And that I'd be urging everyone I know to boycott the Post - permanently.

Take a look at the blog entry from the Post's ombudsman about the Froomkin firing:

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ombudsman-blog/2009/06/post_axes_froomkins_white_hous.html

It's content-free. He expresses no opinion whatsoever. It literally is nothing more than a recitation of the event. He seems to have confused the role of "ombudsman" with that of "management stenographer".

Which is hardly surprising, I'm sorry to say.

A number of people have mistaken the icon for Rorschach since the Watchmen movie came out. But yeah, I have the complete DC run of The Question, and I'm an old comics geek - among other things.

I'm also paranoid enough that most of the political posts on my journal are filtered for friends, invisible to the general public. Well, it's not just paranoia; I was boring some of my readers to tears with repeated angry posts about torture, actually. Since some of my family have been tortured, I don't have any sense of moderation or Seriousness about that issue.

On an unrelated but on-topic note, I've been trying to decide if I want to see Dan move to Salon, HuffPo, or somewhere else. I see drawbacks and benefits for each possibility.

I just donated. Not much, but it's what I can afford right now. If I can do more later, I will. I suggest you keep the PayPal link visible, somewhere at the top of the blog, if possible.

This is the first time I've ever made a donation like this online. That's because your work is the only stuff I've believed was WORTH supporting, apart from Dan Froomkin's.

Wish I could apply for that research assistant position, but I imagine it won't pay enough or be secure enough, long-term - and I have a family to support. Besides, I'm probably not qualified anyway.

Although she is currently employed as NPR's Ombudswoman, Ms. Shepard continues to carry out an educational role: she is demonstrating that the Stockholm Syndrome applies to media organizations, too.

I'm reminded of Sir Thomas Moore's remark in A Man For All Seasons (appropriately rephrased):

"it profits a woman nothing to give her soul for the whole world... but for an ombudswoman's salary?"

I only hope that neither of these people reproduce.

The Washington Post's ombudsman has issued a brief Royal Proclamation:

A Short Break

I will be off for a few days. Blogging will continue shortly.

He has, of course, not addressed the hundreds of reader complaints about the firing of Dan Froomkin. That's not the duty of an ombudsman; his duty is to pass along the press releases of WaPo management to the readership, and to hide when things get hot.

A coward AND a man with absolutely no understanding of the meaning of journalistic integrity. He and Ms. Shepard (Ombudswoman of NPR) should get together and have an Ombudsbaby. It would embody such a negative standard of journalistic integrity that it would act as a "black hole" for the media, sucking Mssrs. Hiatt, Alexander, and many others into an alternate universe. The Bizarro universe, I hope.

It looks as if Fred Hiatt might be feeling the heat over firing Dan Froomkin. He was supposed to be leaving sometime in July, but he just announced that tomorrow, June 26th, will be his last day at the Post. He hasn't yet announced a new online home. And the Post's ombudsman remains AWOL.

Personally, I plan to delete all my WaPo links after I read his final column tomorrow. I won't be going back there.