I posted a variant of this on another thread, but I think it is important enough to give it a diary entry such that it will get some kind of serious discussion as an issue.
Markos should consider suing O'Reilly, Novak, Hewitt, Fox, CNN, etc., in an action for defamation.
They've all basically accused him of something that is not true, that is, that he took money from the Dean campaign without disclosing this fact, and that he was dishonest for doing so while continuing to blog about Dean.
Markos, I stongly suggest that you consider legal action against them.
That's the way that you get these fuckers to pay for their dishonesty and/or reckless disregard for the truth, and the way you will either get them to recant and retract, or ante up with some of that "hard earned" corporate whore money they've been working so hard on their knees to obtain.
You are a lawyer, so you know the drill.
I also know, however, that you what consititutional jurisprudence would classify as a "public figure."
But it seems to me that the "scienter" standard that public figures have to show in such actions in terms of "knowing dishonesty" or at least "recklessness as to whether something is true" is a foregone conclusion on the basis of what I have seen so far.
Which is another way of saying, I think you have a case.
And if you did so, you could not only vindicate YOUR own name, and by implication, the integrity of the left wing blogosphere, but also highlight what liars and hypocrites these "leading lights" of the corporate media are, further shedding light upon and underscoring their dishonesty and unreliability, and thus further undermining their crediblity in the public mind.
(Imagine, taking Novak to court, and in the course of this proceeding, introducing evidence about his own outing of Plame in an effort to highlight his dishonesty and hypocrasy before a jury. Imagine doing something simliar with O'Reilly. Wouldn't these be sights to behold?)
Who knows, a law suit like this might have the unintended effect of making the corporate media shills and whores learn to have some "journalistic ethics" of their own.
I bet if you wanted to start some kind of a legal fund in this cause, not only would you get contributions from people here on your own site, but you'd also be able to enlist other like-minded bloggers with their own readerships to also get their people to get involved.
I'm all for going all out on this one.
The corporate media whores want a war with the blogosphere?
Well, give them one.