Shorter Scott Shane.....

"The Senate Intelligence Committee is partisan. Everyone says so. They blame each other. It's too bad."

That's really all we learn from Mr. Shane. It's too bad he wasn't curious about the actual cause of the partisan nature of the current committee. If had been, some of those 1000 words might have been spent reminding us of the following facts:

(a) To block the NSA hearings, at the insistence of the White House, Frist wanted to make the Intel Committee like other committees - i.e., republican rubber-stamp outfits.

(b) Pat Roberts, the republican White House lapdog refuses to live up to his non-partisan promise to investigate how the bush administration sexed up the WMD evidence. In fact, Roberts is an active part of the cover up.

(c) Roberts also believes that the outing of covert intelligence operatives is no big deal. Just in case you forgot: Roberts chairs the INTELLIGENCE Committee!

Now if Mr. Shane had reminded us of these and other facts, even quickly, he would have had some dots that could easily be connected to show a sharp pattern of republican obstructionism and rubber-stamping of questionable or illegal administration policies. Instead, Mr. Shane simply fritters his 1000 words away drawing yet another false moral equivalence: Democrats blame republicans, and republicans blame Democrats (who can say, truly, where the truth lie?). The readers could, Mr. Shane, if only you saw fit to provide them with relevant and known information.

To say nothing of the goddamn flash ad that blocks part of the NYT page and can't be closed...