The last honest journalist in Washington calls the gutless White House pussies out:

Tapper: It’s escaped none of our notice that the White House has decided in the last few weeks to declare one of our sister organizations “not a news organization” and to tell the rest of us not to treat them like a news organization. Can you explain why it’s appropriate for the White House to decide that a news organization is not one –

(Crosstalk)

Gibbs: Jake, we render, we render an opinion based on some of their coverage and the fairness that, the fairness of that coverage.

Tapper: But that’s a pretty sweeping declaration that they are “not a news organization.” How are they any different from, say –

Gibbs: ABC -

Tapper: ABC. MSNBC. Univision. I mean how are they any different?

Gibbs: You and I should watch sometime around 9 o’clock tonight. Or 5 o’clock this afternoon.

Tapper: I’m not talking about their opinion programming or issues you have with certain reports. I’m talking about saying thousands of individuals who work for a media organization, do not work for a “news organization” — why is that appropriate for the White House to say?

Gibbs: That’s our opinion.

Tapper just shamed every last Obama-fellating sycophant in the WH press corps, whether they have the wit and integrity to know it or not. And they don’t.

Update! What it’s really all about: containment.

The irony of this story, though, is that the press was already happy to quarantine “wingnut” stories emanating from Fox, be it Van Jones or ACORN or the White House trying to politicize the NEA. Compare the first boldfaced quote in the blockquote above to this one from Chuck Todd more than a month ago. In fact, here’s what I wrote on September 4, while the Jones thing was roiling, on how Tapper — again — seemed to be the only non-Foxy willing to break the wider media embargo on covering what Fox News was covering.

AP links back to one of his own earlier posts — one I missed the first time around, or at least forgot about — giving Tapper some well-earned kudos:

As for Tapper, his willingness to take up stories circulating in the righty blogosphere that other outlets try to suppress might give him a lot more influence as a reporter going forward. The White House can spin the Jones story as just another Fox News vendetta against the administration if it’s only FNC covering it; if ABC’s on it too, that becomes impossible and the story becomes “legitimate.” From now on, think of Tapper as the swing vote in the press pool, I guess.

He’s right. Much as liberal “journalists” struggle to suppress it, the truth will out — eventually. For as long as King Obama’s (MMM MMM MMM) obvious desire to shut independent media down can be thwarted, at least.

Updated update! Another brilliant Stoaty P-shop, accompanied by this:

I continue to be well and truly gobsmacked by the quantum of stupid radiating out of this White House. Even if you believe Fox News is the font of all faux-journalistic evil, calling them out publicly is the dumbest possible approach. It diminishes the office of the president while it elevates Fox. When Helen Thomas tells you to grow a pair and stop abetting your enemies, you’re doing something extra special in the annals of whining.

And — best of all — this puts all the other news outlets in a really, really awkward spot. The White House has ordered them not to pay attention to stories sourced by Fox. Flat out ordered them. In front of the cameras and everything.

Now what? They want to obey. They hate Fox and love Obama with equal passion. The White House has made it clear that it won’t take the slightest criticism without retaliation, so they have to butter his bottom to get sweet, sweet access.

It’s a real conundrum, all right. The rest of us can just be glad we’re not the kind of shameless, personality-cult baglappers that would ever be likely to find ourselves in a similar one, I guess.