I never did get around to actually posting this Firedoglakemeltdown about poor Mo Dowd being booted from John McCain’s plane, but, Ed Morrissey picks it up from the unhinged Pittsburg Post Gazette
Add Maureen Dowd, the Pulitzer-winning columnist for the NY Times, to the list of media types who have fallen out bitterly with John McCain. The McCain campaign has barred her from flying in the McCain and Palin press planes, even though major media outlets routinely pay thousands to the campaigns every day for travel and expenses (and also begs the question, why didn’t her media colleagues Man Up and get her aboard anyway?)
It all started when Maureen covered an Aug. 30 McCain-Palin rally in Washington, Pa., then wasn’t let on the McCain plane afterward, forcing her to overnight at a Pittsburgh airport hotel while the traveling press went on without her.
Poor Mo! She gave this great quote
“It was disappointing because I didn’t think John McCain would ever be as dismissive of the First Amendment as Dick Cheney.â€
While Ed takes a position (and wrote it much better then I did in my original unpublished post) that she really has no right to a seat on the plane, I think he missed something: the 1st says Congress shall pass no law infringing on the freedom of the press. Is Mo really “the press?” She is no longer a journalist, a reporter, but, a commentator. Does Ed, myself, any of the others in blogosphere have a 1st Amendment Right to access to the McCain camp? No. And, quite frankly, neither do reporters who work for the mainstream outlets. It is not Camp McCain’s job to do the reporters job, nor is there any law that says they have to give access.
Does anyone think that Team Obama would give David Fredosso access on Barry’s plane?
Anyhow, it is humorous to me when one of the unhinged Left, particularly one in the MSM, starts quoting an Amendment they do not even understand.
The unhinged at Firedoglake follow up with the same story, and should probably READ the 1st, too.
Warner Todd Huston has his take at Stop The ACLU.
