Steve has already discussed some of the nastier reactions to the Washington Post cash-for-access scandal, but he didn't touch on what strikes me as the most shocking aspect of this mess. According to the Politico story that Steve linked to, "The astonishing offer was detailed in a flier circulated Wednesday to a health care lobbyist, who provided it to a reporter because the lobbyist said he felt it was a conflict for the paper to charge for access to, as the flier says, its 'health care reporting and editorial staff.'" We've all had cause to be worried about the Post in recent years; once the home to such journalists as Bob Woodward, the investigative reporter who helped unearth and Watergate story and keep it alive, in recent years it's become more likely to be providing a safe haven for people like Bob Woodward, the bloated load who served as the Bush administration's publicist (until the tide of conventional opinion turned, whereupon he churned out a series of books dismantling the account of the inner workings of the Bush White House promulgated by that lickspittle idiot, Bob Woodward.) Still, to have a lobbyist--God help us, a health care lobbyist, a toiler in the fields that gave us Harry and Louise--find fault with your ethics--that's rich. Thank God that we have whistle blowers like this working to try to keep our journalistic institutions honest.