Dear Press, You're Not the Boss of Robert Gibbs

Robert Gibbs' takedown of the "professional left" continues to generate buzz among media types, and today produces two diametrically opposed views:

• Paul Krugman, New York Times: The press chief needs another job if he can't take this heat. Liberal critics are voicing the "real concerns of real people," he writes. A good temper tantrum can serve a purpose, but "if you vent for the sake of venting; if you alienate people you’re going to need; then you’re just being stupid."

• Roger Simon, Politico: Sorry, liberal journos. Gibbs knew exactly what he was doing, and it's a safe bet that President Obama did, too. Here's the point everybody forgets: "Gibbs has one boss, and it isn’t the press. It’s the guy in the Oval Office." A press secretary is by definition partisan. He gets in trouble only when the "boss thinks he is not defending the White House and its policies vigorously enough."

(More Robert Gibbs stories.)