Last September, CNN unwittingly found themselves enmeshed in a bizarre story after correspondent Abbie Boudreau, while compiling a documentary on the emerging guerilla right-wing press, was saved from being “punked” by Andrew Breitbart protégé James O'Keefe, who allegedly had hatched a scheme to “hit on” Boudreau after luring her onto his boat. That remarkably strange incident happened not long after Breitbart released the now-infamous edited videotapes of Shirley Sherrod, which earned him widespread condemnation from all corners of the media, including CNN.

In November, after ABC invited -- and then disinvited -- Breitbart to take part in their election night coverage, Howard Kurtz, host of CNN's Reliable Sources, described Breitbart as “the conservative activist who pushed the ACORN undercover sting and posted that misleading videotape, the one that made Shirley Sherrod look like a racist,” adding: “I'm not sure if Breitbart was the best choice.”

CNN should by this point know better than to get involved with anything even remotely connected to Breitbart.

But it seems they haven't quite learned their lesson:

CNN is gearing up for the election season with the addition of political contributors from across the ideological spectrum. Democratic strategist Cornell Belcher, conservative commentator Will Cain, and local Tea Party leader and radio talk show host Dana Loesch will appear across the network's prime time programs, as well as other dayparts and platforms.

Loesch is the editor-in-chief of Breitbart's BigJournalism.com.