Gee, I must have missed that day at journalism school, too.

King acknowledged that the "SNL" sketch was "a wake-up call," but he went on to echo Malveaux's comments — essentially excusing being tougher on Clinton than on Obama as just the way things go.

"I think that because Obama was such a surprise and such a new presence, it seems more dramatic," he said. "But I think if you go back in time through history, you will see other examples of the pendulum of coverage swinging as the race shifts."

So ... because coverage has been unfair in the past, it's understandable that it can be unfair today.

Yup. Missed that day, too.

It's also true, however, that every candidate feels unfairly put-upon by the press at one time or another.

"If you ask Barack Obama whether he was treated with kid gloves, he would probably tell you no," said Borger. "And if you asked Hillary Clinton, she would probably tell you, yes, he was. So I think, like anything, it gets in the zeitgeist and you kind of take a look at it and you look at yourself, and you say, 'Gee, maybe there's a little truth to that. Maybe we can improve.' However, I don't think there was a radical turn or radical shift in the coverage after that."

Ah, that's the best defense of all. Deny anything ever happened.

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E-mail: pierce@desnews.com