Played For Patsies

Over at Tapped, Garance Franke-Ruta writes, regarding the obvious lies Scott McClellan has been tossing off from his podium over the last several years, "If there is one thing that reporters hate, it's being played for patsies."

I think we've all seen ample evidence that this simply is not true. They'll allow themselves to be played for patsies from now til sundown, as long as at the end of the day they still have access to those "anonymous senior administration officials." The problem here for reporters is that they've been exposed as having been played for patsies. It's not that they have any integrity; it's that they want us to think they do.