The emperor has no clothes,

only in this scenario, the Washington DC press corps is the emperor. Eric Boehlert:

The New York Times made headlines last week when it tapped a new D.C. bureau chief. But if the paper of record really wanted to jump-start its Beltway news operation, maybe it should have tried to lure Patrick Fitzgerald away from the Department of Justice.

Let's face it, as special counsel in charge of investigating the Valerie Plame CIA leak, and now the lead prosecutor in D.C. federal court methodically laying out the damning evidence of perjury, obstruction, and lying against Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, Fitzgerald has consistently shown more interest -- and determination -- in uncovering the facts of the Plame scandal than most Beltway journalists, including the often somnambulant D.C. newsroom of The New York Times.

Though a lot of the liberal blogosphere's passion for the Plame story died down when only Libby was indicted, Patrick Fitzgerald has more than lived up to his fearsome reputation during the trial. His case reveals that even though Cheney was protected enough by his self-scrificing minions that he could not be charged with a crime, he is what we have long suspected him to be: a vengeful, petty CYA bureaucrat, and a liar.

Eric Boehlert is one notable exception to the rule; Dan Froomkin is an invaluable other. His column yesterday took a close look at Tim Russert's testimony and its implications for those of us who are not part of the DC in-crowd and are forced to rely on compromised reporters for the information we aren't privy to.