Well well well, Andrew Sullivan. Now we know one reason why you’re so eager to carry Obama’s water. The bucket in question is tied directly to your paycheck. Why didn’t you just say so and save us all the trouble?

The Washington Post came under fire last week for getting caught trying to rig a meeting or “Salon” between lobbyists, special interest groups and Obama Administration officials. The scandal was so painful for the Washington Post that editor Katharine Weymouth was forced to offer an embarrassing apology in the Post’s Sunday edition:

“Dear Readers, I want to apologize for a planned new venture that went off track and for any cause we may have given you to doubt our independence and integrity. A flier distributed last week suggested that we were selling access to power brokers in Washington through dinners that were to take place at my home.”

She goes on to cry crocodile tears and claim that she knew nothing about the event – even though it was supposed to happen at her own home. Yeah. Whatever.

NOW the publisher of Atlantic Media, the same guy who runs The Atlantic, i.e. Andrew Sullivan’s boss, is offering an apology for doing the exact same thing. You know, just in case he gets caught too…

“I don’t believe that any one of these events had any of the ill intention or effect that some have attributed to The Washington Post concept. But we live on a street too close to the brush fire to pretend no interest.  So what I thought I might do is give the detail of the Atlantic Media dinners, address some of the concerns I’m reading now on the Web, explain the virtue I see in this work and end with a personal statement and caveat.”

Ironically, it’s Politico, the same organization which broke the Washington Post story, which is breaking the Atlantic Media story:

“Atlantic Media publisher David Bradley on Monday issued a full-throated defense of the kind of off-the record, corporate-sponsored “salons” that last week ensnared the Washington Post in controversy, arguing that they are both a source of revenue “and advance a legitimate purpose for a media organization – promoting debate and discussion.”

Yeah. Debate and discussion that pushes a political agenda – for a price.

I guess we now know why Andrew Sullivan suddenly became so interested in female reproductive organs during the general election last fall. He’s Palin for pay.

How does it feel to be on the receiving end of a conspiracy theory, Andrew Sullivan?

More to the point… How does it feel to be on the receiving end of a conspiracy theory which can actually be corroborated by legitimate news sources, Andrew Sullivan?

UPDATE: Marc Ambinder: Tries to backtrack for “The Boss”

UPDATE: Jeffrey Goldberg: What did we do wrong? (By the way, I was never there.)

UPDATE: Daily Pundit: Disgusting.

UPDATE: Chicago Boyz: What would you get for that kind of scratch?