Much like "thrill up my leg" / "I want to do everything I can to make this new presidency work" Chris Matthews, NPR's Nina Totenberg increasingly seems to be dabbing in punditry.

From this weekend's "Inside Washington" (WETA):

TOTENBERG: I think that's why George Bush has been a failure.

And:

TOTENBERG: I, too, am grateful that the election turned out the way it did.

Totenberg is allowed to believe whatever she chooses, obviously. The issue involves the line between reporting and punditry. It does seem odd that NPR would still peg her as its "legal affairs correspondent" (a very "strict, independent, non-partisan reporter"-sounding title) despite her increasing comfort with expressing her own political views.

Thoughts, readers?