Republicans Really Know How to Swing Both Ways

Posted by Watertiger, Firedoglake at 4:29 AM on February 19, 2009.

Aw, Michael Calderone gets all pouty today because the Obama administration hired reporters to work for it. *GASP!*

In three months since Election Day, at least a half-dozen prominent journalists have taken jobs working for the federal government.

Journalists, including some of those who’ve jumped ship, say it’s better to have a solid job in government than a shaky job -- or none at all -- in an industry that’s fading fast.

But conservative critics answer with a question: Would journalists be making the same career choices if John McCain had beaten Barack Obama in November?

Now we all know that journalists have always maintained a sky-high Chinese wall and have never stooped to something so unethical as carrying water for a particular Republican administration. . . and vice versa. I mean, let's just take a gander at a small sample of some of the highly principled Republican characters who would never cross over into the "enemy camp":

• Tony Snow: Went from lying for Fox News to lying for the Bush White House;
• Ron Fournier: Tried to segue from AP chief to the McCain campaign, before such a stink was raised that he had to walk it back;
• Armstrong Williams: Right-wing television and radio screech bought and paid for by the Bush Administration;
• Jonathan Martin: Drove straight to the heart of Calderone's own Politico, via the National Review Expressway.

And then there's the door that revolves the other way:

• Karl Rove: Because he didn't do enough damage to the country during his tenure as Bush's bag man, Newsweek thought it would be a great idea to ask him to join their stable of columnists;
• Peggy Noonan: From Reagan speechwriter (and casket humper) to Wall Street Journal editorial board and almost every Sunday morning talk show that can withstand her slurred interpretations of Beltway common wisdom;
• William Safire: Nixon and Agnew's speechwriter who willingly joined the "Nattering Nabobs of Negativism" as soon as he could;
• Pat Buchanan: The senior adviser to Nixon, Ford and Reagan now apparently has his own cot in the green room at at least three news channels;
• Diane Sawyer: From weather bunny to the Nixon White House in two easy steps, and then one giant hop to the major networks;
• Matthew Dowd: Bush's chief campaign strategist had no difficulty making the transition from the Church of Bush to the Temple of Good Morning America;
• Bill Kristol: Dan Quayle's Chief of Staff and Sarah Palin's biggest booster used his pulpit at the Weekly Standard and on Sunday mornings to push for "Dan Quayle with a Ponytail" McCain's running mate;
• Pete Williams: Darth Cheney's former press secretary, who parlayed his later stint in the Bush 41 Pentagon into a cushy job at NBC;
• And lest we forget: The entire Kagan horde, AEI whores for PNAC and slavish enablers of Bush's Iraq Follies who manage to spend most of their Sundays on television.

Seriously, Michael. What does this list say to you? That Republicans are denied entry to the hallowed halls of the "liberal media complex"? You're right. No one is going to take you seriously.

One more thing: If you're going to cite the incredibly biased Michelle Malkin, Brent Bozell, and Jamie Kirchick as your sources, then you have no business fantasizing about getting a job in government.

At least not this one.

Tagged as: republicans, revolving door