"Gerbilism" Draws Another Mental Picture Entirely

Instapundit links to an interesting piece at Accuracy in Media, ‘Gerbilists’ In The National Press Corps. The lede:

Doug Bates doesn't know it yet, but with the help of his daughter, the associate editor of The Oregonian has coined the perfect descriptor for journalism in the Age of Obama: "gerbilism."
Bates explained the genesis of the term Sunday in a commencement address to future journalists from the University of Oregon. As a child, his young daughter confused Bates' profession with the name of her favorite rodent in a school report about what her parents did for a living. "My dad Doug works at the newspaper," she wrote. "First he went to college to learn about gerbilism."
The punch line no doubt scored Bates a few laughs, but he segued into a serious point:

I've decided "gerbilism" is a pretty good word for what's been going on in the news media these days. Gerbilism is an apt term for something that's soft and warm and cuddly, safe and timid, with no sharp teeth and no bite whatsoever. Gerbilism, I've decided, is partly responsible for a lot of our nation's problems today.

Soft, warm, cuddly, safe, timid and no sharp teeth or bite -- yep, that sounds like much of the national media's coverage of Barack Obama.

You might be interested in reading the rest, but what came to mind when I read that involved Richard Gere and Habitrail tubes, which I thought was a perfect analogy for what "gerbilists" were doing for the current administration.