You have nailed the proverbial nail on the head once more, Glenn. I hope that some day it makes a difference.

Hoping against hope, that is...

So these reports don't see a problem with the situation where the politicians they are covering are basically saying:

• Sure you can get inside information from me, as long as you only let out the positive stuff. Release anything that might embarrass me, and you're out.
• Hey, why aren't you or your paper/station/whatever covering these embarrassing things my opponent is doing/saying? That's legitimate news.

The politician is going to keep saying that, until the journalists push back.

I think these reporters have forgotten that they are supposed to be journalists. If they want to be public relations people, they should get into that industry. Journalists are supposed to be confrontational, not comforting. Almost everything that has gone wrong in this country the last 8 years, can be traced to the demise of real journalism. If we had real journalists in this country, then we never would of suffered 8 years of Bush.

for McCain to be attacking the press in general.

The press in general had sucked up, they did feel part of the team. They did defend McCain when he would single out transgressors, or worse, mourn when he shuns them like Reston does.

But for McCain to follow the RW playbook of demonizing all of them has changed the dynamic somewhat. Joe Klein (and his removal from the plane) is a perfect example.

It just gets worse and worse. How can these people believe they are reporters? Starry-eyed women breathlessly paging through e-mails on their Blackberries? Has this always been happening behind the scenes, or was there actual reportage going on in elections past?

Someday, someone's gonna resurrect the muckraking tradition of Ida Tarbell and these people will be looked as a laughable symptom of the second Gilded Age.

When looking at our troubled world, two of the main culprits of our problems, in my opinion, are Alan Greenspan and Paul Bremer. Of course Greenspan in married to Andrea Mitchell and Paul Bremer's spokesman/chief assistant during the post invasion clusterf**k period, Dan Senor, is married to Campbell Brown. How does this affect their objectivity? They would not be compelled to testify against their spouse in the court of law, but we are expected to have these "journalists" report on the results of their spouses' actions in an objective way?

The best (or rather, worst) part is how the press is almost unanimously giving McCain a pass when it comes to his poor performance in the polls. According to the papers, the blame lies squarely on a "mismanaged campaign"

The same is true for Obama. Gushing articles about his well organized volunteers securing votes are all over the TV, while little is said about policy.

Could it be that Obama's ideas are popular and McCain's platform is decidedly unpopular among voters? No, that would be stupid. People don't vote issues, they vote based on operations...

Glenn, not to opine on your career, but this theory, and the evidence you have for it, is another book in the wings. It would be a course adoption for all journalism schools too if their professors are worth a damn.

The saddest part is the merit of her question that broke that trust - is it fair that boner meds are covered by health insurance programs, but the Pill is not? - is not studied by those concerned. It's an excellent question, and the candidate was unable to even answer it. And the reporter, in remembering the episode, doesn't realize that the question was a very good one. She remembers her embarrassment for her friend.

Breaking up (with Daddy) is hard to do.

Jeebus don't you know how to do anything besides complain? The treatment McCain got has been relocated to Obama's camp. McCain is getting thoroughly skewered and Palin has been verbally assaulted by the MSM while Michelle and Biden slide.

What else could you possibly want? Now that the press bias is for Obama, shouldn't you avoid making it a basis for discussion? Demanding repentance for a McCain acolyte, only highlights the Obama acolytes. Don't screw up a good thing.

Journalists can only get access to McCain if they agree to put his interests ahead of their audiences.

NY Times today has an online article called: Win or Lose, Many See Palin as Future of Party.

In it, they do not even mention her recent Ethics Violation or her recent depositions only bringing up the $150,000 GOP spent on clothes and her expenses for living at home.

I was shell shocked. How could an entire article on Palin's rising star not include her Ethics Violations. Instead you have so many GOP operatives quoted praising her.

In addition, I read on Media Matters that Brian Williams did not touch on the issue either.

It is overwhelming to realize that there is no one, except blogs that will hold these people accountable for their actions.

While not new revelations in terms of the low-grade knowledge or suspicion that this is the "world"... you pulled it all together into undeniable focus.

It''s disgusting, and your "let the players paint the picture" approach makes it the more so.

I admire your ability to illuminate by shining pinlights in the right places, rather than rushing in with the grand expose apparatus.

Your rock. Perhaps your next book should be about the descent of journalism (on some fronts) into the shameful businesses of pimping and pandering.

If reporters are professionals and not mere rock star groupies, they can befriend politicians only at the point where their interests intersect with those of the country: in the satisfaction that comes from a professional relationship where they are doing their job seriously. Journalists have to report the facts, and decent politician will trust their own abilities and reputations enough to let them do it.

....is the acceptance of gifts in the first place. Why on earth would a reporter, intending to be objective, accept a seat on the campaign bus, barbecues and drinks from McCain staffers? It creates the same corruption as drug companies providing Vegas junkets to doctors. Where one's impartiality is crucial, it is just as crucial to avoid accepting gifts.

Two things should happen---first, news outlets must pay for the transportation and expenses of reporters covering the campaign, and reporters should be rotated through shifts on a long campaign so no reporters get too chummy with the subject of the coverage.

This indeed is a disgrace, but journalism is almost beyond any hope in this country. Money, as dictated by ratings, determines coverage. Thus, we have headline reports of the single poll giving McCain a 1% deficit since a close race increases the ratings. Gossip, rather than issues, drives the coverage.