There is a God, and his name is Milbank

Seems the Washington Post can't get a break these days. Following a trend toward bad decision making set a few years back (when they briefly removed comment boards from the Post blog), the acclaimed rag decided to cash in on its rep in July by charging lobbyists for access to Post reporters and editors. Snafu, anyone? The controversy came to light thanks to Politico (ironically, founded by two former Post reporters), which exposed a flier sent by the paper to a health care lobbyist. Post publisher Katharine Weymouth later condemned the flier as an un-vetted product from the paper's marketing department. Good buddy Boram, an intern at the Post, told me at the time that Weymouth visited the newsroom and the atmosphere was pretty whacked. No surprise. Media outlets nationwide put the Post over their knees.
Then, last week, the Post pulled yet another dumbshit stunt: they removed political columnist and deadpan funny-man Dana Milbank's comedic net video "Mouthpiece Theater." The segment in question–coproduced with Postman Chris Cillizza–spring-boarded off President Barack Obama's backyard beers-and-diplomacy party, pairing the nation's political talking heads with international beers appropriate to their personalities. Dennis Kucinich, for example, was encouraged to sip a frosty Insanely Bad Elf. Funny, right?

No one seemed to mind Milbank's in-no-way-veiled comparison of the folks on Capitol Hill to the Prince of Darkness(watch the video). But then came the snide suggestion that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton glug a Mad Bitch brew.

Hold the pres...er...hold the Net content! We can't have any snide, semi-witty, sarcastic digs at THAT prominent politician. Not from the Washington Post, not from a man who once stood outside a McCain/Palin rally with a sandwich board and sign boasting "Mainstream Media" and "I need a hug," not from the brilliant comic who turned presidential primary speeches into a drinking game. Henry Waxman as a grumpy troll? OK. The former First Lady, who should be capable of taking her share of biting sarcasm, drinking a beer all but named for her? Not so much.

Slate writer Jack Shafer, bless his sense of humor, came to Milbank's and Cillizza's rescue. He nods to a good point: why should the Post not run a comedy sketch? Isn't Milbank's weekly Washington Sketch nothing more than an incredibly enlightened and insightful jab at the nation's politics? It's just what we need. The front page material, hell, the lion's share of Post opinion writing errs on the side of seriousness. Top-tier censoring undermines everything a newspaper stands for. Weymouth needs to do what we journalists always dream publishers will do: back off and let the paper approach topical debate on every level. Even the mad bitch one.

In other news, my third feature is currently in production (at last) and hits newsstands tomorrow morning. And a week from today, I'll be flying back to old NoDak for the wedding of a very close friend/former roommate. But more on that as it unfolds. For now I'm going to sneak out early and get some much needed sleep. Toodle pipskie, friends.