Professional Journalists

Bob Somerby pointed out yesterday just how professional these highly-paid Washington journalists are:

A CARTOON PRESS CORPS: Only Elisabeth Bumiller could overlook the mordant humor in her presentation. At the start of this morning’s “White House Letter,” she describes the press corps’ conduct during a recent plane ride:

BUMILLER (5/22/06): Reporters en route to Arizona on Air Force One last week opted to watch the movie ''King Kong'' in the press cabin. Not so Tony Snow, the new White House press secretary and former Fox News commentator, who told reporters that he spent the flight in the staff cabin watching Gen. Michael V. Hayden's confirmation hearings to be the new C.I.A. director—on CNN.

Got milk—and cookies? While Snow watches Hayden’s confirmation hearings, the “press corps” chooses King Kong!

Of course, they're not being paid to cover the confirmation hearings; they're being paid to cover the President. But how are they going to know what questions to ask the President if they can't be bothered to keep up with such an important event as a confirmation hearing? And don't tell me that this wasn't an important confirmation hearing; this was a hearing for the man who will be in charge of this nation's premiere civilian intelligence agency, an agency that is under fire all the time now for incompentence and political infighting.

Man, I obviously went into the wrong field. I still haven't seen King Kong. (The Peter Jackson version, that is.) That would be sweet to get paid to watch movies.