The dust-up between CBS News reporter Sharyl Attkisson, and spokespeople from the White House and the Justice Department over her reporting on Fast and Furious, has become a cause celebre for the right, and a meta-story all its own. Jay Carney responded obliquely to the incident at yesterday’s briefing by pointing out that “tough conversations” are all in a day’s work. Mark Hemingway, of Bill Kristol‘s Weekly Standard, adds another layer to the onion by asking if CBS News is “Silencing Fast and Furious Reporter” Sharyl Attkisson.

If Politico’s Mike Allen is the “most popular boy” after a glowing profile by Mark Leibovich in the New York Times Magazine hit the virtual street today, then the reaction to the piece by inside-the-beltway journalists represents the reaction of the AV club and, well, the yearbook staff: we hate him.

When Jack Donaghy looked at Liz Lemon as she rambled on Thursday night on 30 Rock and quipped, “This is like watching Hemingway write—Mark Hemingway,” was Jack referring to C-list conservative pundit Mark Hemingway at the Washington Examiner (and formerly at National Review Online)?