Billmon: Copy Cat

It's a good question: With all the conservative bloggers out there -- admittedly, almost all of them vapid and stupid, but still, out there -- why did the Washington Post not only hire a GOP apparachik (and a nepotism case at that) but a GOP apparachik who was, by all appearances, a serial plagiarist?

I certainly don't know the answer, but if Howie Kurtz's media column today was any indiction, the motivation (and/or motivator) must have been pretty damned powerful. Clearly, right up to the moment Baby Ben resigned, the Post was circling the editorial wagons and trying to fend off the critics -- as seen in Kurtz's lead, which tried to pretend it was a story about how those vicious left-wing bloggers picking on Baby Ben, instead of Jayson Blair in white face. It's been more than hilarious watching Howie hustle on a Friday afternoon to catch up with events -- and the new party line.