Catch-22

Digby is, as usual, right:

These trumped up scandals present a serious Catch 22 for politicians. If they are prudent and follow the law, they will use careful and precise language. If they follow their political instincts and play these situations like the soap opera the media demands, they will deny everything in the most emotional terms. Either way they are screwed.

The Catch 22 may be the defining characteristic of the media's coverage of (Democratic) faux-scandals. They want their controversy, and they're going to get it one way or another. Take that Howard Kurtz complaint that Obama waited too long -- 24 hours! -- to call for Blago's resignation. Is it even remotely difficult to imagine what would have happened had Obama made the resignation request an hour after Fitzgerald announced the criminal complaint? He'd have been criticized for doing so prematurely -- recklessly, even. And there's no doubt some reporter would speculate that Obama's haste was evidence that he has something to hide.