Apology to the pitchfork mob

I'm embarrassed to admit, but I did a lot of commenting without reading the actual Rolling Stone story on Chapo Guzman. Penn previously had done journalism exposing the corrupt corporation Dyncorp, whose behavior was largely swept under the rug. How could someone who exposed this outrageous criminality be surrounded by the elite press and mocked?

The press has been wringing its hands over Sean Penn's alleged chumminess with the evil Chapo Guzman. My original explanation is the Newsweek report that Guzman was an ICE informant. I believed this, added with the Dyncorp scandal, explained most of the press's reluctance to cover the situation with any seriousness, and to deflect all attention to Penn.
 Lately, however, the response has been surprisingly more measured. USA Today and the New York Times have dialed back their crusade, and Politico has went further and disavowed any serious criticism of his reporting.

It appears I should be careful what I wish for. Penn and the Rolling Stone are actually complicit in a cover-up on drug running.

Cited by the the writer emptywheel:

He cites (but asks me not to name in print) a host of corrupt major corporations, both within Mexico and abroad. He notes with delighted disdain several through which his money has been laundered, and who take their own cynical slice of the narco pie.