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Let's Play Dodgeball!!

Sweet. John Harris, in his WaPo online chat this morning, graced us with these pearls of wisdom about the Plame affair:

To be honest, I've always regarded the "can't comment, under investigation" as a transparent dodge. But every politician uses it. As journalists, we should (and pretty often do) keep pressing even when we know the answer is likely to be no comment.

But what about himself? Why was he not answering Brad DeLong and the voluminous numbers of questions he no doubt received about his critique of Dan Froomkin and subsequent toplofty rebuttal?

As a journalist, I hate not answering questions, even from (in this case) someone who clearly was coming from a point of view quite hostile to me. But I had jointly decided with colleagues that I had responded enough to the blogosphere, so I took a pass.

One yardstick for others, a much more convenient one for himself. You can't say he hasn't learned much from his GOP masters.

He also referred to his critics as "the crankosphere." Cranky? I guess we are. Sorry if we're a bit peeved with so-called "journalists" acting as the long arm of the Republican party to crush all dissent from the pages of a major media outlet. But you make it so easy, John, by being such an imperious, lazy, supercilious partisan dick.

He says he is anxious for this to all blow over. Unlikely. The WaPo is now locked in the crosshairs for its kowtowing to power, and Harris just put a target on his back as an enthusiastic part of the problem who can't help running his mouth at the absolute worst moment.

Everyone's going to be watching, John. Just be who you are naturally. The rest will take care of itself.

Oh and I didn't get my question answered during the chat:

You wrote: "It has long also seemed to me that Joe Wilson's own activities -- publishing op-eds etc. -- were not exactly calculated to maintaining secrecy about himself and his family."

Given that you have now stepped out of your reporter role and into an advocacy role for the GOP by promoting the viewpoints of Patrick Ruffini (part of the Bush/Cheney '04 campaign), does that mean that others are within their rights to go rooting around into your private life and make public the names and occupations of your family members? That is what you suggest when you comment that Joe Wilsons writing op-eds somehow makes his family fair game.

Just curious.

No need to respond, John. Your uncharacteristic silence tells us all we need to know.

posted by Jane Hamsher @ 12/15/2005 03:15:00 PM