A few excerpts from the MSNBC list of journalists who donated to candidates. First up, since when does not knowing the rules equal “thinking as a lawyer?”

(D) ABC News, Mary Fulginiti, “Primetime” correspondent, Hollywood, Calif., $500 to Gov. Bill Richardson, Democratic presidential candidate, 2007. Before she joined ABC in November 2006, lawyer Fulginiti gave $6,000 to Democratic candidates. ABC forbids political activity by journalists.“A friend asked me to contribute” to Richardson, Fulginiti said. “This is not a reflection of my political views. Look, I’ve made a mistake here. I’m a legal analyst — this is all new to me. I have been politically active in the past. This is when I was just starting out at ABC. I was still thinking as a lawyer.”

And I liked this one on Fox News:

(D) Fox News Channel, Codie Brooks, researcher for Brit Hume’s “Special Report,” $300 to Senate campaign of Harold Ford Jr., Tennessee Democrat, in March 2006, $200 more in June, and $2,100 more in September.Brooks, who said her family is friendly with Ford’s, said she raised much of the $2,600 from friends — it wasn’t her money alone. “A lot of Fox employees have contributed to Democratic candidates. I know I’m not the only one.”

But the best response is Gideon Yago’s of MTV:

(D) MTV News, Gideon Yago, “Choose or Lose” presidential correspondent, $200 to Democratic presidential candidate Wesley Clark in January 2004; $500 to America Coming Together, which campaigned against President Bush, in September 2004; $250 to the Democratic National Committee in September 2004; $250 to VoteVets, which is running ads against the president’s handling of the war, in March 2006, and $250 to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in October 2006. He said he is no longer at MTV News.Gideon Yago, raw:“I don’t understand. Things that I do as a private citizen?“We’re not a traditional news network in the sense of NBC or Fox or CBS.“We’re sensitive about equal time or fairness. We’re non-biased.“I mean, what the f—, man?“I came back from doing coverage in Iraq and was very moved by what I saw. I was never told by my boss or anyone that we couldn’t give to a campaign.“I’m not a journalist now. Writing fiction.“I would never qualify what we do as journalism. Ninety percent of what we did was simple identification, after 9/11: Who is Rumsfeld? Who is Colin Powell? Who is Al Qaeda?“I try to call it as you see it.“After my second trip to Iraq in 2004, I felt the conventional news media was not doing a good enough job of conveying the horrors and the failures of the war in Iraq.“At 18 I was a registered Republican. At 24, I was a registered Democrat.“I tried very hard — our job was not an indoctrination process — I tried to be as professional as possible whenever possible.“We were a non-traditional news outlet. We were nonpartisan.“”OK, I’ve been rebuked. Thank you for spanking me in public. “Do you hand in all your rights as a public citizen when you do this?“I mean — who’s your editor? I’m going to call him right now.”