Word was, earlier this month, that the Reverend Moon's wretched Washington Times was going mainstream with the arrival of John Solomon. Known to Media Matters fans for his questionable attacks on John Edwards, Solomon was being pitched to us as the guy who would usher the Times into being a real newspaper. No more scare quotes around the word "gay," for example!

Today, though, Think Progress reports that Mr. Solomon has assured the conservative Heritage Foundation that he hasn't "drunk the Kool-Aid" of the Washington Post. Which is kinda funny considering his new boss literally commands cult members to drink "Holy Juice" symbolizing the blood of Reverend Moon.

John Solomon, known for his hatchet jobs investigative reporting of prominent Democrats has left his current job at the Washington Post to become Executive Editor of The Washington Times

John Solomon digs and finds an interesting tidbit -

The royal family of Saudi Arabia gave (snip) about $10 million, roughly the same amount it gave toward the presidential library of George H.W. Bush, according to people directly familiar with the contributions.

I'll get to the (snip) later. Right now, I want to concentrate on the possibly policy influencing $10 million dollar contribution to the George H.W. Bush library.

More on the flip...

John Solomon released yet another article today bashing a Democrat.

...

Lerach, his family and members of his new law Lerach Coughlin law firm accounted for nearly $78,000 in donations to Edwards' campaign in the first half of this year, making the trial lawyer one of the North Carolina Democrat's leading "bundlers" of contributions.

In the midst of that fundraising, Lerach negotiated behind the scenes for a plea deal that was consummated on Tuesday and will send him to federal prison for at least 12 months on a conspiracy charge involving his past legal work as partner in the Milberg Weiss law firm.

...

John Solomon specializes in creating an aura of scandal where none exists.

As usual with the increasingly corrupt Associated Press, their latest release goes to great pains to avoid mentioning which political party Senator Larry Craig is a member of.

What's that old joke?  Two is a coincidence, three is a pattern.

We start with the always corrupt republican flunky Matt Drudge amping up the ambiguity:

REVEALED: Sen. Craig Arrested; Pleads Guilty Following Incident in Airport Restroom...

Court Docs...

Is Sen. Craig a republican?  A democrat?  

Drudge ain't saying.  Well surely stenographer, unqualified hack and Drudge bedfellow Breitbart will tell me when he copies and posts the A.P. article.  Right?... right?... Bueller?

Don't worry, it won't be a habit.  But I'm sure you were surprised as I was that the author of this morning's "Gonzales lied to Congress" front-page WaPo story was none other than John Solomon.  For once he actually did a substantive story with a serious 'gotcha.'  (Didn't know that could happen.)

And this came on top of yesterday's WaPo editorial, where Fred Hiatt urged Harry Reid to force the GOP to filibuster if necessary:

If he can't get unanimous consent this week to name conferees [for the lobbying reform bill, which has passed both houses of Congress, but the GOP has blocked cloture on naming conferees], Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) should dare opponents to filibuster.

I don't expect this to be a trend, but credit where credit is due.

That's it, I've had it!  Sweet Mother of the Saviour, this is a presidential campaign, not freakin' daycare!  I am beyond pi**ed to read yet again that John Solomon, that "great" writer for WaPo, has attempted to dis John Edwards about his hair.  As my wonderful Dad would say, "Jesus Connecticut Christ!"  Grrrrr.............

There is a story that warms the heart of every Washington-based pundit, liberal or conservative, Republican or Democrat, a story that hearkens back to the heady Boys on the Bus days - the days when the Towering Pundits of Washington supposedly led America to a blissful political utopia. This tale was trumpeted like a clarion call from the sleek websites of Beltway chronicles like The New Republic. It was the story of how one courageous pundit, Time Magazine's Joe Klein, so honed his skills at self-congratulation and promotion that he managed to bill himself as a de facto adviser and strategist to the 2004 Democratic nominee for President. This story has reached legend status inside the Beltway, as it gives all D.C. pundits both the strength to press on with their courageous work propping up the Establishment and the motivation to continue worshiping power. Because of this tale, they too can hope to one day be so self-important as to use their proximity to officialdom to transcend mere writing and pontificating, and move into the actual wielding and execution of elite power.

It's clear the major media companies have initiated a contest with their editorial and news staff to see who can come up with the best recipes for swill they can feed to their readers and viewers. A leading contender, WA-PO's John Solomon has been facing heavy competition from various other journalists, reporters, bilge-belchers,  but he's clearly in contention for a top prize in the "Op-Ed Drivel" category. While the full list of ingredients for his entry hasn't yet been released I've gleaned the basics and wanted to share them with all kossacks eager for his culinary secret.  Be advised that some ingredients may vary based on availability.

Already we have seen how discussions about hair can take the level of discussion about serious issues like Iraq, the environment, and poverty down.  That is why I appreciate the marked decrease in supporters of other candidates recognizing this and arguing on more important and relevant grounds.  However, the hair story is not the first story that I remember setting off the fury over John Edwards and the attempt to label him with a misguided denotation of hypocrisy.

In today's NY Times, there was another story insinuating wrongdoing on John Edwards part for... get this... starting and running an anti-poverty group under proper US regulations.  However, when you read the article you will notice an accusatory tone that is all too familiar to those who paid attention to the insinuations during the Abramoff scandal's break that Democrats were just as involved.  But as we knew then and know now, it was a Republican scandal.  Getting the media to admit that was not easy and took us, not our elected officials, to set the story straight.

John Solomon just can't resist a cheap hit piece slamming a prominent Democrat.  It's Bill Clinton's turn on the merry go round this time in this petty gripe comparing the budget requests for each of the living ex-presidents.

Surprise surprise, Clinton is requesting the largest amount:

I’ve spent most of my professional life working on Wall Street, and a fair amount of that time working with hedge funds.  Over the past few years, I’ve moved over to spend more of my time working with politics and non-profits.  Now, the mainstream media is starting to look at hedge funds and lending and how this relates to the political process.

John Edwards worked for a hedge fund.  Barack Obama is having a major fundraising event in Greenwich CT at the house of one of the top names in hedge funds.  Chris Dodd received over $380,000 in donations from a single hedge that has become a big player in funding campaigns.

A lot of people are attacking these candidates, yet these attacks seem to reflect a basic lack of understanding about hedge funds, lending or finance.  More details below the fold.

By now, you'd think someone at WaPo would wise up about John Solomon and his tendency to only attack Democrats in his pieces about "corruption."  You know, his tendency to target legitimate transactions as being somehow corrupt because they were linked at eighth hand to some dirty person.

Well, he's at it again.  After his attempted smear of Edwards over his real estate transactions failed, now Solomon attempts to tie him to actions of his employer, Fortress Investment Group.  

We'll deconstruct this garbage below the fold....

Another WaPo writer takes on the liberal blogs today. This time it's Lois Romano, who is (surprise, surprise) horrified by how mean and vulgar those liberal bloggers can be. From a chat earlier today:

Annapolis, Md.: Selectively quoting anonymous posters from any political blog is shoddy "journalism" at its worst. What does Mr. Kurtz have to say to defend himself on this? Will he post examples of death wishes against many Democratic politicians if provided to him? Is The Washington Post "fair and balanced." I think these are questions to be posed to your ombudsman as well.

Lois Romano: We are watching the blogs and just this month the Post assigned a young reporter to cover politics on the Internet. There is certainly a new viciousness in the process often generated by the blogs. You need to know that we as reporters are not spared. If we write an article the liberals blogs do not like we will be inundated with nasty, vulgar email--which has no impact on our coverage.

Hey, way to answer the question, Lois! Asked about reporter's accountability, and you turn it back on the liberal blogs. Good one.

The thing is, who's Lois Romano? Has she ever been a target for the blogs? The only recent story I could come up with that was on our radar was the John Solomon hit piece on John Edwards and his house sale. (That was the piece that was so bad that even WaPo public editor Deborah Howell had to criticize it.) Turns out Romano cowrote that piece, but who knew? Maybe she's feeling left out?

I guess Lois wants her name in the paper blogs, too. So here, for you Lois Romano, you stunk on that John Edwards story, too. Even Debbie Howell said so. Feel better now?

(H/T grog in the diaries.)

In this edition: Why can’t the media just quit whining and do their jobs?; Dana Priest and Anne Hull show how it’s done; a lot of the MSM owe Dems apologies; credit where it’s due section is beefier than usual; Bob Woodruff’s amazing recovery; Lou Dobbs still being dishonest; polling problems; double standards; bad news for those sick of Anna Nicole; ratings; and so much more...

Thoughts, and Then, the News
Dear Media: It’s time to take a look at what the GOP really believes about funding wars. XOXO, Newsie8200

Now for the news:

The Media has always virtually ignored the issue of money in politics. I have always considered it a major issue, but, like the Israel/Palestine issue, not seeing any readily discernible solution, I don't spend much time on it. The Media does not either, other than using it to extoll how much of a maverick McCain is or covering Abramoff's crimes.

But the Washington Post pays attention now, because it can bash Dems. Clearly, the hire of John Solomon was for this purpose. Today, he joint authors another hit piece:

Democrats took over in January after a campaign that accused Republicans of fostering a "culture of corruption" in Washington and "selling access" to lawmakers. Abramoff has been convicted of fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy and is in federal prison. Now, with the tables turned, Democrats are courting Abramoff's most famous clientele -- Indian tribes.

What a bigoted piece of crap - Indian tribes are reduced to being "Abramoff's clients? Outrageous. And wrong.

** Cross-posted at Perrspectives **

Today's Washington Post features an interesting examination former President Bill Clinton's new-found wealth earned on the speakers' circuit and the implications for his wife Hillary's 2008 presidential campaign.  But while Bill Clinton brought in almost $10 million in speaking fees last year, he's not running for anything.  Rudy Giuliani, on the other hand, is running for the White House.  And on the subject of his $8 million speaking bonanza in 2002 alone, the Post said nothing.

It seemed like an encouraging sign that Washington Post Ombudsman Deborah Howell had taken notice of something amiss in the ugly hit piece by noted real-estate gotcha "journalist" John Solomon. Solomon had regurgitated his earlier tactics used (poorly) to tar Harry Reid with an ethics problem because he too, somehow, had managed to not lose money on a real estate deal. Now with the Post, Solomon's target this time was John Edwards, and as usual he missed the mark by a mile or so. Howell's response? The headline says it all: "Accurate, but Not the Whole Story". Ugh... This is like saying the WMD story was accurate -- Iraq was a country and Saddam Hussein was the leader, even if those WMDs haven't appeared just yet.