First of all, I’d like to echo and associate myself with everything that Kate has to say below, and to congratulate Marcy Wheeler on an excellent piece of reporting. As has been so often the case with Marcy, she distinguishes herself by asking questions and doing spade work that at times makes the rest of us look a little thick by comparison.

Count me among those who have quoted Jon Gruber often in the past–and among those who will continue to, although in the future, not without disclosing his financial ties. (Not having done so, by the way, is a failure of jounalists, not any fault of Gruber, who as best I can tell, never did anything to hide those ties.) Here’s why I will continue to rely upon him as a source: