Tim Russert cemented his reputation as the Bruce Strauss of Washington journalism during his testimony at the Scooter Libby trial. During Sunday’s episode of Meet the Press, he gave other, lesser journalistic lights the opportunity to demean the profession each in their own imitable ways.

The Politico’s Roger Simon grabbed most of the attention from bloggers with his assertion that perjury and obstruction of justice are not crimes, and hence the Libby prosecution amounts to nothing more than a “show trial.” (Simon is making the rounds again on account of his publicly announced schoolgirl crush on GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney). But it was Howard Kurtz who came up with perhaps the best line of the day when he asserted that the damage inflicted upon his profession by the trial is entirely a matter of misperception on the part of casual observers.

“I think that the people out there who don’t follow this all that closely think that we have become part of the club, too much the insiders,” said Kurtz. The obvious implication is that those who do pay detailed attention to the incestuous relationship between the Bush administration and the kow-towing Washington press community know that when Russert testifies under oath that his habit is to regard all conversations with top administration officials as off the record unless they specify otherwise, he’s describing the honorable practice of holding their official feet to the hottest flames of adversarial journalism. They quake each time they call him to get a slot on the show when things aren’t going well but they take the risk of subjecting themselves to his terrifying inquisitions because they know that if they come out alive, the viewing public will understand that their positions have withstood the ultimate test.

Continue reading In which Howie Kurtz shows why he’s da bomb