On a Monday morning discussion on Nancy Pelosi’s Syrian misadventure, NPR talk show host Diane Rehm sneered at the idea of a "so-called liberal press" when some national newspapers were harshly critical of Pelosi’s bungled remarks abroad. (It's about nine minutes into the show if you want to hear the audio.) She asked her guest John Podesta, the former chief of staff to Bill Clinton:

REHM: John, as you well know, there’s been a great deal of criticism about the so-called "liberal press." How do you account for the fact that so many newspapers as cited here this morning came out very critically against Nancy Pelosi? PODESTA: Well, I don’t know that you know, the Washington Post editorial page, let alone the Wall Street Journal editorial page, I would characterize, particularly on the Middle East, as being liberal.

This exchange emerged after another guest, Georgetown professor Robert Lieber, cited critical editorials in The Washington Post and USA Today after he blasted Pelosi's belief in a Syrian peace juggernaut:

The trip was a major blunder because of what she said publicly. She described the road to Damascus as the road to peace, when the reality is Assad of Syria is perhaps the major supporter of terrorism in the region: In Lebanon, where his people are said to be responsible for the murder of former Prime Minister Hariri; and for other actions by their secret services in Iraq, where the largest number of foreign fighters, al-Qaeda insurgents and others, come through the Syrian border; and in Israel where leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad are headquartered in Damascus. The notion that Syria was ready for peace, that she could provide quote, "good offices," and so forth, was a blunder, and whatever the domestic political consequences here at home, and we don’t know if there are any, the diplomatic consequences and the signals it sends to the region are very unfortunate for the American national interest.

Rehm's show airs from the studios of WAMU at American University in Washington, DC, and airs on more than 100 NPR affiliates across America and on NPR Worldwide.