ArcaMax

SAN DIEGO -- Kellyanne Conway is giving me a case of whiplash. One day, I defend the outspoken counselor to the president. The next day, I criticize her. Then, before you know it, I'm back to defending her again.

It all depends on the facts, the circumstances, how Conway is being treated, and by whom. That's fair, right?

I admit that "fair" is not how it normally works in today's media, but it is how it's supposed to work. Consistency is often incompatible with fairness. If journalists do their jobs correctly, and if they at least try to put aside their biases and act as honest brokers, they're bound to experience a lot of back and forth when covering people or writing about issues.

Nothing wrong with that. Politics is complicated, and so are many of the folks who play in that sandbox. And when you factor in the oversized footprint of the media -- and how petty newspapers, magazines, digital sites and television networks can be depending on what party you belong to -- you shouldn't expect the picture to always be crystal clear.

It's not good enough for journalists to throw hardballs at people they don't like and soft-pedal around those who they do. We can't afford to shrug or turn a blind eye when a public figure is mistreated just because they're not our favorite person. What does that have to do with anything?

In the Trump era, media criticism has become a cottage industry precisely because my colleagues and I do so much that deserves criticism. We've gone way off the rails, and we often mistake anyone who works for Trump as our own personal chew toy. Professionalism demands more.

Conway drives me bananas. She has ever since that time we were on CNN together, during the 2016 election, discussing her candidate at the time and the person whose campaign she worked for as a pollster -- Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. I had a beef with Cruz that day, even though he's a friend whom I've known and admired for more than 15 years. When I lit into Cruz, Conway lit into me. "Some friend," she scoffed.

Just a few weeks ago, I took Conway to task for attacking Caitlin Yilek, a reporter for the Washington Examiner. Yilek had noted in a story that Conway has been "in the middle of [President] Trump's barbs with her husband, George, a conservative lawyer who frequently makes headlines for his criticism of the president." Conway called Yilek and -- after a seven-minute rant -- threatened to poke around in the reporter's personal life because turnabout is fair play.

Yet now I'm back to defending Conway, this time against the media, and the harsh treatment she recently got from CNN's Wolf Blitzer over -- surprise -- her marriage.

At issue: the fact that George Conway spent the first day of the House impeachment inquiry offering legal analysis on MSNBC. Blitzer was curious what Conway, a fierce defender of President Trump, had to say about that.

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