I wonder if McClatchy has considered starting an alternative paper in DC. I know, papers are all dying, but people still do read physical papers.

It seems like you could make a dollar in DC/VA/MD by covering the news better and not publishing op-eds from incoherent has-beens like Richard Cohen.

My jaw dropped when I watched Rachel's coverage of the Ensign scandal. There are at least two twists to that story that could result in jail terms for Ensign (and some NSCC staffers.) This is no longer a tawdry sex scandal. It is morphing into something more significant and more illustrative of modern Republican politics.

That brings to mind my hope that the recent exposure of Christiane Amanpour to a wide audience will promote a certain mental health care reform of its own to the ingrown culture of personality at the masked ball called TV journalism .

wonder why all the other 8th graders in the Village dont want to talk as much about ensign's penis as they did bill clinton's?

I don't know if it a plot or regular programming, but I usually see TRMS during the 10pm (CST) rerun because I am at work during the first broadcast. Last night there was no repeat, just one of MSNBC's famous lockup stories. Maybe they do that every Friday and I just haven't noticed. But it is a lot more fun to think she REALLY pissed someone off

Ms.Amanpour also came to mind as I read Maddow story. And the words "Washington Post" triggered the word "Watergate" in my memory bank. My, how investigative journalism has fallen. . .

"My, how investigative journalism has fallen. . ."

If Ensign suddenly changed his party affiliation to DEM-NV, the sudden interest of the WaPo in exposing the scandal would be neck-snapping.

If RM and that KLAS-TV reporter do not back off, Ensign will have to give himself distemper shots.

"wonder why all the other 8th graders in the Village dont want to talk as much about ensign's penis as they did bill clinton's?"

Bill's was bigger???

The MSM black-out on this story causes a friend of one of my friends to suspect Sen. Ensign may have had more than one dalliance with someone else's well-connected spouse, and any more investigation into such a matter may cause embarrassment to some big media mogul. Just saying! My friend doesn't always vouch for his friend, but my friend has assured me that his friend feels so suspicious on this matter he'd take action if only he had a computer to send his suspicion out on the interwebs! -Kevo

I hope you are only kidding . The gentleman from Nevada , Senator J Ensign , has a pretty good health insurance policy .
It would be a terrible thing if the people ever were misinformed about our struggling representatives , that they are not only covered by the most socialistic health plan in the nation , but that they are so conflicted over it . They are willing to take this godless social plan for themselves , and fight until they are voted out of office , to protect the people from the same godless fate .
That they suffer so nobly , of good health care without caveats in their health care maintenance , brings a tear to the eye of every large insurance corporation administration CEO and down the hierarchal chain until their little hearts break .
This socialization was neccessary because before it the cost of removing feet from the gullet surgery was still expensive , it nearly bankrupted the country .
No health insurance without public office ! The soulful cry of our betters .

If I weren't already familiar with the way Villager perspectives infect national news coverage, I'd have to think that Ensign's mommy and daddy had been making a few more of those "gifts" to ensure silence. It really is eerie how little coverage this story has gotten, even when you consider the IOKIYAR rule.

In my fantasies, it turns out that silence is because the FBI investigators have been pressuring the media to keep out, so as to not squirrel the case, and we find out about it all when Ensign and the whole C Street Gang get charged and handcuffed, say, in September, in time for the impact to sink GOP chances in the election. Wouldn't that be great?

We now return you to the sad reality, already in progress...

"In my fantasies, it turns out that silence is because the FBI. . ."

Fantasies is right, biggerbox, because in the world of chickens, A.G. Holder seems to be a capon. . .

Who doesn't like capons ?
I'll tell you who , Islamofacist , parkinson doting , little cry baby orphan , socialised medicine commy pinko's , thats who .

Martin..correct on Fridays at 10:PM starts a different programing..Lockup/down..something!
For me without Rachel Maddow,Keith, Washingtonmonthly, several others truth, fact reporting media(s) I would be without knowledge.....

Yes, only two shows of TRMS on Fridays, so this story made news twice in three hours. If this was a democrat it would be on every ten minutes on CNN and they would have news teams on Ensigns lawn and on the federal prosecutors lawn.

Mon - Thurs it is played repetitively w Olberman's Countdown until the wee hours of the morning. It was only played to appease the lefty bloggers and you would have to search pretty hard on CNN's site to even find it.

So, Ensign has a Pretty Pretty Good health policy. Does it cover products pushed by Jimmy Johnson and Ron Jeremy?

HaHaHa,,, With ensign's tenure circling the bowl hole, it's beginning to look a bit like the months preceding the 2006 election debacle for the Rs.

With the FBI & Ethics committee zeroing in on this creep the slime is becoming visible on his former R supporters as well. The stench is gripping the whole party.
Soon, even the NYT, WP & the cables won't be able to ignore this steaming pile.

Add to that the fact that the Rs are under considerable attack from the Tea Groping RW monster they created; stir in aome D accomplishments (like HCR or peace on earth) and you have the early makings of another D sweep at the polls this Nov..

With the possibilty of multiple dalliances by J. Ensign, it would be good if Larry Flynt would break his silence, and step forward with something to add to this discourse.

just repeating what i wrote on the last ensign thread...i suspect that if this scandal was continuing to erupt in some state that borders the stretch of I-95 'tween nyc [media heaven] and the beltway, they might pay some attention...but, since it's happening in the exotic faraway land of nevada, another interchangable part of that long flat expanse of flyover country, it's a bit of a bother to pay more attention...plus [of course] iokiyar

Senator Ensign reminds me of the anecdote where God said to Adam, "I have designed man with a magnificent brain, capable of complex thought, mature judgment and moral discernment.

"I have also designed man with genitalia which provides exquisite sensual pleasure.

"The catch is, I have equipped man with just enough blood flow to operate only one of these systems at a time."

John in Nashville, @15:55

That's what God said -- apologetically -- to *Eve*.

I finally got to watch the video and it strikes me that there is not a single sympathetic character in this tawdry tale. With the possible exception of the Hampton's teenaged son, virtually everyone behaves badly.