Well, that didn't take long.

John McCain's "Straight Talk Express" is desperately in need of roadside assistance.

This time, the McCain campaign has set what may be a new record in going back on its word. A mere three days after promising to the American public that McCain fundraising events would now be open to press pool reporters, John McCain has scheduled a series of New York fundraising events for Tuesday - one a reception for a whopping $28,500 per person - that will be closed to the press.

The American media loves them some John McCain.

So says this gem of an article by Peter Hart at Fairness in Accuracy and Reporting (FAIR). The Press Corps’ Unshakeable Crush on McCain, whose title I borrowed for this diary, is the most comprehensive and well-researched piece I have found in exposing the media's unconditional swooning over John McCain, Maverick.

You knew it all the time, but you ain't gonna believe some of the stuff you're about to read below the fold.

This is Jeremy Paxman.

This is what American journalists are like when I'm dreaming.

Kagro X's hilarious frontpage coverage yesterday of reporters assigned to cover the Clinton campaign in Austin being relegated to using a men's room as their press headquarters inspired me to waste a diary take on the persona of intrepid reporter Belle LaTrine, a stringer working on rotation for Reuters (in other words, a "roto-Reuter"). Here is her report.