It’s rare to see reporters cite specific examples when criticizing their fellow journalists. That’s why Jim Rutenberg’s target of criticism in today’s New York Times Week in Review piece today was so amusing:

Then, as now, the Washington press corps seemed to revel in the search for meaning in every facial tic or expression of its subjects. A reporter for The Times noted that as Buchanan sat and waited for Lincoln to take his oath, he “sighed audibly, and frequently, but whether from reflection upon the failure of his administration, I can’t say.”

Apparently, the embargo on criticism of faux mind-reading in the Times is 148 years. I’m therefore projecting that Maureen Dowd and Adam Nagourney will come under scrutiny around, say, 2155 or 2156.