The insidious scourge on American news

[Stinky The Clown]

That would be Politico.

Non existent just a few years ago, and founded by known, big money right wingers, it was and is Drudge without the trash can vibe. Their talent is physically unglamorous and more like the stereotype of the print reporter (a face for radio type) than the top cable and network noozmodels. Also, their "talent" speaks in complete sentences and come off like honest brokers of honest reportage.

They are not.

In the early days, their talent was booked as guests on some of the more obscure cablenooz programs. They quickly moved up to near-regular status on certain shows ... like MSNBC's Matthews Spittlefest, the Ed Show, and Maddow's nightime noozer.

And they continue to grow. I hear them on my local noozradio all the time. I saw one of their "reporters" just a few minutes ago as a guest on the CBS Early Show.

They've done an incredible job of coming from nowhere and moving to everywhere. Their right wing skew is painfully obvious, but only if one is informed. Their stock in trade is sound oh so fair, balanced, unbiased and reasonable.