Riding out of the hills and shooting the wounded

Why didn't I think of this?

For the record, I think the MSM, especially the Pioneer Press and the Star Tribune, have done a great job covering the Dean Johnson controversy. I have to give special kudos to the Strib, however. It quickly gave the story legs by making it the lead story on its web site by Wenesday afternoon and kept up a steady stream of online and daily stories. The Strib was the first to run an institutional editorial, which despite showing its bias against the marriage amendment, did not let Dean Johnson off the hook. Pat Doyle followed up yesterday with a piece post ethics hearing that raised all the right issues.

On the radio, Rosenbaum and O'Connell (AM1500 KSTP) deserve special mention for hitting the story hard and often.

Kersten is a little late to the battle, but she's got it right, except for the shot at the press. It's not the press quitting on the story. It's readers. This is a case where the press can only sustain a story so long, and two weeks is an awfully long time for a political story to play the big room. If there's no public outcry to pursue the truth, there's no news peg, however, to keep it going.