A shout-out to two media stars: Gretchen Carlson and Mike Allen. Both are tools. Carlson is exposed so totally here as a chilling, hollow, hologram of a human being by Jon Stewart:
Allen, meanwhile, earns a living as a journalist while moonlighting as a spokesman for Dick Cheney's spittle-flecked attacks on the president as a traitor to his country for not torturing prisoners. The most recent excrescence was a classic. If Cheney had issued a press release from his own office and Mike Allen had to report it, would his story have been any different? Sure, he tacks on a few credentializing critiques on the second page of his piece - while reprinting the statement in full on the first - but the entire gist of this exercise is clear. Allen is a cherished outlet for Cheney. Take it away, Alex Pareene!
He has used him before - not because Allen has called him up and asked him tough questions (Allen likes his pampered perch in the DC media bench too much to ask any tough questions of war criminals), but because Cheney called him up and asked him to publish a statement. In the previous instance, Cheney was on background. Now Allen is such a tool he doesn't even bother with this charade.
Why doesn't Allen just go work for Cheney as a spokesman and be done with it? It would be more lucrative. And more honest.