Bill Powers, one of the nation's best media cynics, opens a can of glee on the President's latest troubles. On behalf of journalists everywhere, he explains the utter joy the Fourth Estate is experiencing right now:

Journalists as a group have center-liberal tendencies, but in the end, our chief allegiance is not to any political party. We are the party of scandal, failure, ignominy, embarrassment, and tragedy. The more of these horrors afflicting this or any other White House, the better for us. Indeed, the Bush pile-on is now trans-ideological, thanks to the Miers nomination and the way it disappointed the conservative media. Even the Bill Kristols and Pat Buchanans are joining in.

Nobody is saying this, but there's also a subtle bit of score-settling going on. The news business has been living through its own dark period for some time -- plunging readership, layoffs, faltering public esteem -- and frankly, Bush didn't give a hoot about us when we were down. In fact, he kicked us, telling Fox News a few years ago that he "rarely" reads the stories we write, thus aligning himself with the hordes of what-me-worry Americans who are abandoning the news and bankrupting our little industry.

Well, who's crying now, Mr. President?