Even Brian Stelter — Stelter of CNN, who could defend a reporter on trial for murder caught with a bloody knife in hand — felt moved to reprimand his own colleague for making an absolute embarrassment of himself at a White House event.

Brian Karem recently had his White House press pass suspended for a month after he ranted and raved like a lunatic in the Rose Garden, suggesting a fight with a former administration official. This week, a judge forced the White House to reinstate Karem’s press credentials — an obvious outcome, given that CNN correspondent Jim Acosta went through the exact same situation last year.

But despite what might otherwise be a victory for CNN, Stelter on his show Sunday told Karem that his conduct was “clearly unprofessional.”

You could almost feel the world stop spinning at that very moment. Every fiber in Stelter's body is dedicated to excusing the media's excesses, but here he was, at last, giving one of his own a little spanking.

Back in July, Karem got into a cringe-inducing shouting match with former White House aide Sebastian Gorka in the middle of an official event. The spectacle should have embarrassed not just CNN, where Karem is a contributor, but every other reporter in the White House press pool.

Gorka looked like an ass, and so did Karem. The difference is that Gorka was on the property as a one-time guest and Karem was there as a constitutionally protected member of the news media.

After Karem’s pass was suspended and Karem sued to get it back, the White House Press Association, representing most American news outlets who cover the White House, wrote in a high-minded court brief on his behalf that the First Amendment had been “infringed” upon and democracy had been put “in jeopardy.” It’s laughable that press freedom would be in actual “jeopardy” due to the suspension of one press pass out of 20. That’s how many CNN has, by the way. But what about the indisputable mockery that Karem made of his profession?

One White House reporter at a major D.C. based publication told me that's exactly what Karem did. "It was obviously a complete embarrassment to the press corps," the reporter told me over text. "And its not the first time he’s made a fool out of himself at a White House event."

I suspect that showing up to the White House in a wrinkled shirt and getting into verbal confrontations with White House guests was not what the framers had in mind when they crafted the First Amendment.

On Stelter’s program, Karem’s defense for his behavior was, “I am provocative, and I am a smart aleck. … That’s okay under the First Amendment.”

Yelling the F-word is also “okay under the First Amendment,” but I don’t see where exactly that entitles any reporter a prestigious spot in the White House Correspondents’ Association. That’s saying nothing of challenging someone in the Rose Garden to a fist-fight.

Karem looked ridiculous and each of his colleagues should be embarrassed to claim him as their own.