Politico:

The defense never rests. When President Barack Obama released his own policy this week on former President George W. Bush’s practice of attaching controversial signing statements to legislation, a reporter quickly got a tip from a Bush loyalist: the cell phone number for a White House lawyer in the past administration.

You know, back in the day, people -- heck, often ordinary citizens or whistleblowers -- gave reporters "tips" about newsworthy topics.

Of course, maybe this is what our Mike Allen thinks is newsworthy. Breathlessly, he places the call:

“The spin is bogus,” said William Burck, a former deputy White House counsel, in pushing back against early news accounts framing Obama’s action as a slap at his predecessor. In fact, Burck insisted, the new policy is no different from Bush’s.

Incredible! A Bush operative defends the Bush legacy. Who knew?

Stenography so useless truly does deserve to die, and I hope it does, the sooner the better.