MAYBE THE PRESS SHOULD JUST STICK TO REPORTING AND LEAVE THE MANCRUSHES TO TWEEN-GIRL BIEBER FANS

It's perfectly understandable that lefties fret about mainstream-press mancrushes on right-wing politicians -- I've certainly engaged in plenty of such fretting in my time -- but what I find fascinating is the fact that the MSM's two most recent attempts to join a right-wing politician's cult have fallen flat.

Earlier this year, there was the rush to declare Paul Ryan a studly exemplar of "courage" -- an effort that blew up in the faces of journalists when the public and even the usually spineless Democratic Party roundly rejected Ryan and his plans to eviscerate Medicare, Social Security, and Medicaid.

In the past week, members of the MSM have declared their love for Rick Perry -- but this time it's members of Perry's own party who are refusing to make it a group hug. Michelle Malkin is attacking Perry's one-time support for mandatory HPV vaccination in Texas. Perry's threat to Fed chairman Ben Bernanke is being criticized by John Podhoretz in Rupert Murdoch's New York Post and by a rash of Bushies, led by Karl Rove. And, not coincidentally, the entry into the presidential race of the guy who was thought by some to be a possible savior for the party is being greeted not by cheers and sighs of relief, but by rumors regarding possible late entries into the presidential race by Paul Ryan and by Chris Christie.

Maybe sucking up desperately to the right is more of a pathetic, Halperin-esque embarrassment than a shred strategy for the mainstream press. Maybe reporters ought to stick to reporting.