I've been giving the press, and especially Politico, a hard time recently for treating the Republicans as all-important news makers during the Obama era, even though Republicans are essentially powerless. I think it's quite odd how whenever Republicans inside the Beltway say boo, the press corps snaps to attention and types it up as news. It's odd because, particularly during Bush's firs term, I don't remember the same press corps caring much what Democrats had to say. The press certainly did not treat Tom Daschle's every utterance--his every WH critique--as being noteworthy.

Recently though, in the wake of admission by South Carolina's Republican governor Mark Sanford that he'd had an affair, ABC's The Note took this double standard to a whole new level.

The Note published just three stand-alone items. The first was the entirely predictable, and appropriate, “Sanford Admits Affair.”

The second was headlined, “Sanford in April: No 'Grand Plan' Because 'Anything in Life Can Happen.” In that one, ABC noted the irony of Sanford's springtime quote given the revelations of this week.

The third Sanford item was this: “Huckabee: 'Remains to Be Seen' Whether Sanford Can Stay in Office; 'Broken Trust' With People.” In that one, ABC extensively (exclusively, actually) quoted a Republican at length about the ramifications of the Republican controversy.

Do you see the double standard? Since Obama the Democrat has taken office, the press has decided that whatever his political opponents in the GOP say must be treated as deeply important news; that the opposition party's musings and strategies are of paramount importance.

Yet when news broke of a Republican scandal, it was a Republican that ABC News turned to for insight. In fact, in its three items on Sanford, The Note never once quoted a Democrat. Suddenly, the opposition party wasn't so important or newsworthy.