WaPo Reporter Busted by His Boss!

Thomas Ricks of the Washington Post is the author of a new book on Iraq named Fiasco, which gives you an idea of where he's coming from. But now, his Managing Editor Leonard Downie has told him to shut up after he told Howie Kurtz that Israel 'allowed Hezbollah to keep some rockets in South Lebanon in order to maintain moral equivalence' and says that this is what he was told by take your pick: 1] an Israeli analyst 2] US analysts 3] analysts 4] a single Israeli senior official two years ago. Ask him tomorrow and see what he says then.

But wait, there's more:

One other thing: There's been much less scrutiny of Ricks' Eason Jordan impression in his interview with Kurtz--

...there's some belief from our reporters that they [the Israelis] have occasionally targeted the media.

Our mainstream multilayered fact-checking media in all its glory.

Gosh, Tom, care to elaborate?

Is that why you reporters hate Israel so much? Cuz they're gunnin' for you like the US military is in Iraq, according to the late and unlamented Eason Jordan, whose list of weird theories went much further than just plots to kill CNN journalists. Eason was buddy-buddy with Saddam, you know, and the Fourth Estate has such a high moral purpose, it can't be held accountable to mere fleeting phenomena like ethics or objectivity.

I doubt if the Post will carry the story of its own internal insurgency on its front page. Or maybe not at all.

But I bet the Pulitzer Committee is already short-listing loose-cannon Ricks for next year's Prize list!