The past week has seen a pronounced evolution in the writing of Dana Milbank. Earlier in the week he severely criticized the incestuous relationship between the political and media culture in Washington – including engaging in a healthy dose of self-criticism – revealed by the Kurt Bardella email scandal. Where did this newfound self-awareness come from? Perhaps that can be explained by his latest piece. See, Milbank discovered that, regardless of his prominence in the DC journalism community or access to power, to the banks he was still nothing but a mark.

Fox News.com contributor Richard Benedetto thinks Dana Milbank’s February moratorium on Sarah Palin betrays the noble ideals of journalism.

Let me repeat that. FOX NEWS.COM CONTRIBUTOR Richard Benedetto thinks Dana Milbank’s February moratorium on Sarah Palin betrays the noble ideals of journalism.

Tuesday’s Opinions page in the Washington Post is dedicated almost entirely to the tragic shooting in Tucson on Saturday. A screenshot of a portion of the Opinions webpage shows us the lineup of writers and their topics. In addition, one of the three editorials by the Post’s editorial board also addresses the issue and has the title “Gun control: It’s not a political impossibility”. To summarize, then, we have Eugene Robinson and the editorial board arguing for improved laws to keep guns out of the hands of those who should not have them, Dana Milbank hitting the violent rhetoric from Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck for their contributions to politically-based violence and threats of violence while George Will, Michael Gerson, Richard Cohen and Marc Thiessen all write columns that are telling America to stop blaming conservatives for the violent political landscape that they have created with their incendiary language and actions.

The ideal result for supporters of the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy is to get them extended in a manner that allows Republicans to escape from the suicidal bargaining position they were in on holding taxes for 98% of American taxpayers hostage and blocking the extension of unemployment benefits, in a fashion in which the Republicans get to take primary credit for all of the tax cuts, and while causing the President to betray his campaign promises and launch an attack on his strongest supporters – an attack taken word-for-word out of the Republican playbook. That is precisely what they’ve achieved. They did not achieve the result through brilliance and they cannot achieve it without cowardice and ineptitude on the part of the Democrats.

After Obama’s tax cuts for billionaires deal earned him a David Broder pat on the back, we get this truly virtuostic hackery from Dana Milbank.

Three (sorta) “positive” stories about economic stimulus all came together in the last couple of days. They suggest that even when the forces of darkness are trying their hardest to make us stupid, it’s possible we can actually sort out the truth.

Dana Milbank comes up with some compelling logic to indemnify Alan Simpson for his comments about Social Security: he’s been biased against the program for 20 years, so what’s the problem?

In a pitiful column in the Washington Post, Dana Milbank outlines links between Glenn Beck’s on-air rants and the actions of a murderer and would-be murderer. Yet, Milbank says we should not blame Beck for his viewers’ actions. Fortunately, the legal team that will soon take Andrew Breitbart to task for his attack on Shirley Sherrod will likely bring real consequences for its actions to the right wing attack media. Will the corporate media then continue to hold them blameless?

Very Serious Journalists, like James Risen, may look down their noses at bloggers, imagining us at our keyboards in our pajamas. They can laugh, but the kind of journalism practiced by FDL is running rings around them. “He said/she said” may work for the Village media, but FDL aims to sort out who’s right and why, and then tries to make things better. If FDL’s version of journalism appeals to you, we could use a little financial support to make things even better down the road.

Ombudsman Andy Alexander of the Washington Post wondered this morning why women readers are abandoning the newspaper even faster than men.