Sad and pathetic, not to mention sophomoric, is this piece from Washington Post "journalists" Dana Milbank and Chris Cillizza. They think themselves clever as they match beer brands to politicos but they crossed a line when they suggest that Secretary of State Clinton be given some "Mad Bitch" Beer.

This attempt at satire misses its mark entirely and quite frankly descends into frat boy misogyny. Please consider contacting the ombudsman of the Washington Post by e-mail at ombudsman@washpost.com or by phone at 202-334-7582 to register a complaint.

Update [2009-7-31 20:55:17 by Charles Lemos]: Megan Garder of the Columbia Journalism Review is also not amused:

One wonders how much of the Post staff’s time and resources were devoted to researching, writing, staging, shooting, and editing such an extraordinarily value-free contribution to the annals of political commentary. Milbank and Cillizza are no Stewart/Colbert—they’re not even Letterman/O’Brien—not only because they’re simply not as funny, but because their status as (ostensibly) reporters means that they owe us more than lame-puns-for-the-sake-of-lame-puns, as per the typical humor of late-night TV. “Two of the biggest maws in Washington”—judging from the impish grins they maintain throughout the video and from their general teehee! look what we’re getting away with! tone (oh, and from the fact that their video closes with TotBMiW taking swigs of Jackass Oatmeal Stout)—seem, actually, to understand this. They seem to understand, in other words, that “Mouthpiece Theater,” in its spectacular lack of substance, represents a kind of journalistic subversion. But, in that, the pair are victims of irony rather than purveyors of it. Yesterday’s “Beer Summit”—and, in particular, the media’s treatment of the event as alternately epic and ironic (as in, for example, dubbing the thing the “Beer Summit” in the first place), is certainly ripe for criticism. The video in question could have been—relatively—trenchant, along the lines of the “suds summit” column Milbank published in today’s Post. It could have been, given the participants, witty/revealing/justified. Instead, “Ménage à Stella Artois” simply mocks itself. And in that, it mocks by extension: - Dana Milbank - Chris Cillizza - the staff of The Washington Post who are not Dana Milbank and Chris Cillizza - the audience of The Washington Post - all of us, generally.

And I'm kicking myself because the title of this post should have been "Ménage à Stupide".

Update [2009-8-1 0:30:15 by Charles Lemos]: The Washington Post has released a short statement and taken action: "The video was a satirical piece that lampooned people of all stripes. There was a section of the video that went too far, so we have removed the piece from our website."

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You've probably seen yesterday's kerfuffle from Reliable Sources - Dana Milbank and Nico Pitney sparred over Nico's Iran question at last week's presidential press conference:

Nico says Milbank called him a "dick" after the segment ended.

Hilarious for two reasons.

First, Nico's not a "dick." Of all the bloggers to insult, Nico should be close to last. His work is solid and he's a really good guy. Milbank comes off as a fool.

But more hilarious is that Milbank doesn't realize the difference between the process of a press conference and the content. Remember, Nico asked one of the toughest questions of the day (one that Obama didn't know beforehand and then ducked). Yet to Milbank, it's not about the content of the question or the information gleaned by asking it. Instead it's about the order reporters get called on or where they stand - about the precious fragility of the press core's ego.

The White House called on Nico because they saw the quality and utility of his work on Iran. If Milbank put down the smoking jacket and did interesting work, maybe he'd get called on.

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For all of you Monty Python fans:

Customer: "He's not pining! He's passed on! This parrot is no more! He has ceased to be! He's expired and gone to meet his maker! He's a stiff! Bereft of life, he rests in peace! . . . His metabolic processes are now history! He's off the twig! He's kicked the bucket, he's shuffled off his mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleeding choir invisible! This is an ex-parrot!"

What has this got to do with the primary election? For that you'll have to wander over to the Washington Post and read Dana Milbank's latest column. Mr. Milbank tells of his experiences yesterday in the Clinton campaign press entourage.

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On Tuesday, Representative Dennis Kucinich introduced articles of impeachment against Vice-President Cheney. There are three articles: manipulation of intelligence to deceive Congress and the American people, fabricating a threat from Iraqi weapons of mass destruction  prior to the invasion of Iraq; manipulation of intelligence to deceive Congress and the American people about an alleged relationship between Iraq and Al Qaeda prior to the invasion of Iraq; and threatening aggression against Iran, in violation of the U.N. Charter and the U.S. Constitution.  (Kucinich seems to be one of the few Members of Congress aware that threatening to attack other countries is a violation of the U.N. Charter, a treaty to which the U.S. is signatory.)

You can find the text of the impeachment articles and supporting documents here.

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Apart from the Congressional GOP, it seems the Feingold fracas has been giving the ya-yas in profusion to the gentlemen of the press.

Especially resident Post funny man Dana Milbank.

After cataloguing a slew of Senate Dems who got publicity-shy overnight, he says

The one Democrat happy to talk was Feingold, who, in a pre-lunch chat with reporters, seemed to enjoy his colleagues' squirms. "I'm concerned about the approach Democrats are taking, which is too often cowering," he said.

Feingold...seemed to enjoy his colleagues' squirms.

Damn that editorializing son of a bitch!

Of course, if the Dems decide that an extended bout of intra-party all-in mud-wrestling on the Capitol lawn is perhaps not the way to win friends and influence voters, this whole thing could be wrapping fish by Friday at the latest.

Otherwise...

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