The Times headline:

Republican Emerges as Obama's Annoyer-in-Chief

Nut graph [emphasis added]:

Every Congress seems to produce a designated pest, adept at drawing attention to nuisance issues (and his nuisance self) while making trouble for the other party when it controls the White House. Representative Henry A. Waxman, Democrat of California, played that role during the Bush administration, while Representative Dan Burton, Republican of Indiana, did it before him in the Clinton years.

Now comes Mr. Issa, 57...

What the Times' friendly profile of Republican Darrell Issa never bothers to do is inform readers what Issa has actually done in terms of “drawing attention” to issues while hounding Obama, and more importantly whether any of Issa's attacks are reverent and accurate.

I know what Rep. Waxman did during the Bush years in terms of shining a spotlight on war profiteering, for instance. And sadly, I'm well versed in what Rep. Burton did during the Clinton years in terms of tying up Congress in knots while chasing pointless Clinton conspiracies.

But what has Issa actually done during the Obama years? I mean, Isn't Issa's biggest claim to fame pushing the Joe Sestak story and suggesting all kinds of dark crimes were committed by the Obama White House, only to watch the tale quietly implode?

The Times doesn't seem to care, though. Instead, the daily seems very impressed that Issa is booked on cable news shows a lot (he's “media savvy”!) and holds lots of anti-Obama press conferences. What Issa actually says on TV and at press events, and whether there's any substance to his endless allegations of wrong-doing, seems to be of little interest to the Times.

In other words, style trumps substance.