Dr. Strangelove abandons his Straight Talk Express

The GOP candidate for President of the United States is in bed with the lobbyists, and wants kid gloves treatment from the press corps. Are they going to give it to him? Will they continue to be nice to him because they like him? Is it okay as long as you're a Republican? From the Politico:
Imagine for a moment the story had been about McCain’s possible opponent in the general election, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.). Might the conservatives have paused to ask why he hired Robert S. Bennett, one of the capital’s most fearsome and expensive lawyers?
Might they have wondered why he had flown aboard a private jet with the lobbyist, Vicki Iseman — on a flight paid for by her client? Might they have probed more deeply why she was supposedly hanging around the senator’s planes, office and events often enough that his staff tried to impose an unofficial restraining order on her?
The Times’ reporters and editors involved in this story are top-notch. Such stories usually only go into the paper when reporters and their editors feel certain they are true — because they know a vicious response will likely follow.
Most importantly with this one, John Weaver, a former McCain aide, is on the record in the Times story saying he warned off the young lobbyist. McCain denies impropriety, flatly and broadly
This lobbying scandal is well-grounded, and McCain's (and Iseman's) lobby ties need to be understood and covered by the press. Even as is, this is a political problem for McCain that goes way beyond bloviating conservative talk show hosts circling the wagons around a damaged candidate. More Politico:
This episode exposes, more clearly than ever, the business model for big-time conservative activism: Its lifeblood is this us-against-them mentality. It needs an enemy, be it The New York Times, or Obama, or secularism or illegal immigrants.
Cable TV has decided that if it's not a problem for Limbaugh and Ingraham (today), it's not a problem for McCain (ever). Make no mistake: as the Brits note, McCain is damaged by this and will be even more so as more comes out. The Brits get that; time will tell about the rest of the press corps.
SALON | June 25, 1998
David Corn, Washington editor of the Nation, is a regular contributor to Salon.
John McCain made this tasteless joke about Chelsea Clinton back in 1998. He did call the President and apologized.
"Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly?
Because her father is Janet Reno."
McCain's two-liner conveys some interesting insights into what he considers humorous (lesbianism, a young woman's physical appearance), particularly since it was delivered to a Republican crowd. Remember, this is the party that champions pro-family values. The former Vietnam POW escapes this matter without serious political harm. In the inevitable magazine profiles of McCain that have been written, there is the perfunctory line: "McCain's tendency to speak too freely was proven when he made a distasteful joke at a fund-raiser about the first family and then had to apologize to the president."
But the joke revealed more than a mean streak in a man who would be president. It also exposed how the Washington Post, New York Times and Los Angeles Times play favorites when reporting the foibles of our leading politicians.
McCain gets more than his share of breaks from the press, and now wants the thinly sourced sex aspects of the lobby scandal to obscure the solidly sourced influence peddling aspects. See video of Dr. Strangelove here.