The Politico’s biggest boosters are Matt Drudge and George W. Bush, and it is run by a Reagan loyalist. At the very least, those facts are worth considering. Given that Editor-in-Chief John Harris has repeatedly vowed to be more “transparent” in how they conduct themselves, shouldn’t we have some understanding of the role played by Ryan, and what his connection is to “Allbritton Communications,” whose “deep pockets” are (partially? fully?) financing The Politico?

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UPDATE: The Politico’s primary (perhaps sole) funding source is the Allbritton Company, of which Frederick Ryan is an employee. The Allbritton family’s leader, Joe, was CEO of Riggs Bank when Riggs pleaded guilty to a series of illegal financial transactions with right-wing Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and his brutal military that took place throughout the 1990s and into 2001.

Oh, yes: Allbritton was a close personal friend of Pinochet. But there’s more:

We hear incessantly about how this group or that group is funded by George Soros, as though that fact, by itself, proves the group’s political affiliations. But those groups do not purport to be nonpartisan newspapers or sources of news. The Politico claims exactly that. Surely it is notable that those who created The Politico, who are funding it, and who are in charge of its operations, are long-time Republican operatives and those firmly implanted in right-wing circles.

It’s amazing how much weird stuff comes into your mailbox when one of your closest friend’s blood relatives runs a gun shop. It was really interesting before he figured out how to do blind copies; he was one of the habitual right-wing e-mail smear forwarders, as are his buddies, and none of them ever used the blind-copy function either. I once traced an e-mail smear all the way back, about fifteen or so forwards, to the College Republican who’d first sent it.

Politico is either stupid or Politico is bought and paid for by the sleazy astroturf ‘Swiftboat’ cretins of the Republican party.

Why choose?