Conflict of Interest Kurtz and the California Election

Ever wonder why ultralightweight girly-boys like Rich Lowry and Lucianne Goldberg Jr. pop up so often on CNN's Reliable Whore-ses? Could it have something to do with the fact that Howie Kurtz is in bed with their National Review colleague? Eric Alterman reports:

Want to hire a conservative �media strategist� who is married to the most famously conflicted of interest reporter in America? Meet Mrs. Kurtz. I don�t suppose there�s any conflict in letting Howie cover the California recall candidate his wife happened to work for and is now plugging in National Review. Nahh. (Now if Howie would just quit the Post and go to work for National Review�for whose editors he has been acting as a defacto media promoter anyway�that would solve everything. But there�s always the matter of back pay�.)

Of course, there's nothing wrong with Howie marrying a right-winger. Karl Rove surely gave the union his blessing. The problem is Howie's pretense of objectivity.

Take, for example, Howie's plo-chob of Arnie S.'s media managers on the August 17 Reliable Sources

KURTZ: Paul Farhi, let's face it: the press has just been dazzled by the Arnold campaign. And so for example, one day last week doesn't answer any questions but they put out word that Rob Lowe, the actor, is joining the campaign. Everybody writes about that. So how does he get away with it?

FARHI: Well, you're talking, first of all, about the smartest media manager candidate in a long time.

KURTZ: In recorded history, perhaps.

It beats begging for sex, Howie says.

Significantly, weasel-boy Kurtz did not disclose his wife's past media management work for Arnold during the program. (He did mention it on the program the week before, but hid the conflict on the 17th.)

Howie went on to complain that the San Francisco Chronicle reported Arnold's gleeful comment about shoving a female actor's face into a toilet, as part of a film role. That's not a campaign issue, Howie whined.

Meanwhile, I can't find Howie mentioning Arnold in his online Washington Post column. Has the Post muzzled Howie? That question could be interesting fodder for Howie's next online chat, coming September 2.