Substitute Glenn Greenwald Article Of The Day

While Glenn Greenwald has been taking a break from blogging, Charles Davis and others have been filling in. DC political journalist Davis' article Friday describes one of those "aha!" moments that he experienced while covering congressional politics:

I thought I had done good. As a 22-year-old reporter just out of college, I had just gotten the then-chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Senator Jay Rockefeller, to admit right into my microphone that while he couldn’t deny the Bush administration was potentially funding covert – and illicit – acts of war against Iran, he wasn’t prepared to do a damn thing about it.
...
Heading back to my office, I thought I had reporting gold. One of the most powerful men in Washington had just accused the White House of being willing to fight another illegal war without even informing Congress. And he admitted he was – or at least claimed – powerless to stop it, all while being kind of a dick. Perfect for radio.

The reaction I got my from my editor was chilly. “No one really cares about this Pakistan stuff,” he told me. Maybe I could do some reporting about the upcoming Farm Bill instead?

Making politicians look bad: ‘A fireable offense’

Davis' employer at that time wasn't one of those mainstream news outlets we normally think of when we discuss the vacuous and useless coverage events in our nation's capital usually receive these days. Nevertheless, they thought that having "access" was more important than telling the truth.

Davis' article is worth a read, if only to experience an "aha moment" of your own. It's an entirely too common story in DC, and until we demand better, it will remain so.