Look, you do not warrant Professional Respect as a professional Liar.

Every damn day we get the spectacle of people on TV saying patently untrue things that they have been paid to say.

And if they are challenged with the fact that they are lying they resent it as a disparagement of their character.

Now, they do generally know that they are dispensing lies. So why the indignation?

Because they believe that lying to voters is an honorable profession akin to being an attorney. They feel that reporters who call them on their bullshit are disrespecting the system and not affording them the moral immunity their job entitles them to.

A defense attorney is an advocate within the framework of an advocacy system. It is necessary for the basic functioning of our system that someone can advocate the proposition that you didn't kill that guy. We do not, and must not, expect that advocates only defend people they believe to be innocent.

A political spokesman is not an attorney and the United States of America is not a courtroom. A candidate or surrogate is not entitled to lie in pursuit of his objectives because he is ultimately supposed to be an advocate for the public good.

A lawyer takes an oath to vigorously advocate for his client. A Congress-person's oath says nothing about being re-elected.

And, unlike a lawyer, a spokesman isn't certified as part of a self-policing profession with rigorous ethical standards. He is just someone who will lie for money.

It... Is... Not... A... Presumptively... Honorable... Profession. It is being a flak who is willing to lie on TV. It is being the guy on an infomercial saying that a plate with a picture of Robert E. Lee riding a unicorn will skyrocket in value. That's all the job is.

And if an elected official is that guy then he is that guy. And spokespeople for politicians should follow the same ethical standards (if any) expected of the office itself because they are speaking for the official.

Just because Washington is a lobbyist/pol/media circle-jerk doesn't mean that's in the Constitution. That's not "our system," it is merely the system we've got.

Anyway... watch their indignation. It is a sense of betrayal... that the pols and the media are there to wash each other's hands and the reporter has broken the rules.