The media attention being paid to Senator Barack Obama's trip to Afghanistan this week has all the usual wing-nuts crying that the press isn't doing enough to cover Republican Presidential candidate George W. John McCain. "'The question really needs to be posed: Is this type of coverage fair?' said Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va. 'This is nothing but a political stunt.'"

"Talk show host Rush Limbaugh said none of this should be a surprise. 'My prediction is that the coverage of Obama on this trip will be oriented toward countering the notion he has no idea what he is talking about on foreign policy and defense issues and instead will prop him up as a qualified statesman,' Limbaugh told The Associated Press. 'McCain, on the other hand, is a known quantity on these issues and his position does not excite nor fit the mainstream media's narrative on Iraq and Afghanistan, so they simply ignore it and him.'"

But news executives point out one nagging, little detail: viewers don't want to tune in to hear McCain's fucking bullshit. Like CBS New Veep Paul Friedman, who wonders, "what are we supposed to do, go gin up some story about McCain to get some rough equality of airtime? I don't think so."

"NBC News President Steve Capus said he finds it funny this is an issue, considering how much people have accused the press corps - and still do - of being too cozy with McCain. The Arizona senator had been a frequent guest of 'Meet the Press.'

"'We're just trying to do our jobs,' Capus said. 'There's no question that there's great news value in Sen. Obama's trip overseas. That's why we are doing this.'" [Chicago Tribune]

So, GOP, will you kindly crawl to some shady little corner and die quietly now?