My goodness, step away from the incessant media buzz for a few days and diving back in just makes the bile rise to the back of my throat. Atrios and the Daily Howler and others do a pretty good job at pointing out the incompetence and maliciousness of the punditocracy (I'm hard pressed to find any real "journalists" anymore.) Be sure to put them in your daily read pile.

Howie Kurtz, who fancies himself a media critic (I fancy him a laughable Republican suckup) let it be known that reporters who cover Dean are whining that he doesn't ask about them.

Well, grow the hell up, people! There are bigger problems facing then country than making sure that Howard Dean asks how your poodle's pedicure went!

The no-nonsense former Vermont governor is not a schmoozer and makes little effort to charm the reporters who swarm around him in growing numbers. Reporters who have spent hours with Dean express surprise that he never asks a single question about them.

Journalism 101: You are not the story, you conceited, narcissistic sods! The entire punditolitical establishment is hyperventilating about Howard, and not in a good way. Dean is talking to the people and not to the powerful, and it makes them cwy! Alterman, to his credit (although I think he makes a couple of misassumptions here), tries to take them down a peg or two in the Nation:

We've all been to this movie before, of course, just one election ago, and it's therefore no surprise that the anti-Dean media fury has increased exponentially with Al Gore's brave, antiestablishment endorsement. [...] Today, the nation remains no less divided than four years ago, with about 20 percent of the vote up for grabs. The punditocracy has chosen its side. Perhaps it's time the rest of us choose ours.

Steve Gilliard thinks it's time to take the gloves off when it comes to the media.

Washington journalism is corrupt. They screw each other, do favors for each other and frankly, understand very little about campaigns. This isn't received wisdom, but the things I learned first hand.

[...] It's all inside baseball to them, who's up and who's down. The Kool Kids Klub is pissing away our democracy like drunks at strip club handing out $1's. It's all about style to them. No one is going to place Maureen Dowd on workfare if she loses her job. They all protect each other. Well, that's a luxury that we can no longer afford. If they will no longer do their job on their own, it's time to make them.