Jayson Blair, defamed New York Times journalist whose fabricated and plagiarized stories brought down two of the top editors at the Times and molested the trusting consciousness of the average American, has released his memoirs. "Burning Down My Masters' House" is the account of his work with the Times, his personal struggles with drug abuse and mental illness, and his downfall.

The moment he reappeared, interviewed first by Matt Lauer on the Today Show, he has been battered, beaten, accused and, reprimanded by his peers. It is a curious situation to watch, as the only access we have to the man is through the attentions of those he most deeply wounded. As one interviewer asked, "I've been told interviewing you is like cleaning a cesspool--either way you're going to come away from it smelling like shit. Why do you think that is?"

Some have been even-handed, one or two went so far as to read the book, and in the past few weeks we've seen the course of commentary return to normalcy. Now we'll begin to see truth from this. Unfortunately in the early attempts to demonize the man the media has allowed several similar incidents to go, if not unnoticed, than certainly under-reported. Jack Kelley at USA Today, Uli Schmetzer at the Chicago Tribune, Bart Ripp at the Tacoma News Tribune, and Khalil Abdullah at The Macon Telegraph. Why mention the smaller papers? Because it's endemic of the institution. There are no controls and that has become painfully obvious.

There are two running themes of Mr. Blair's book, the first, and that which he stresses in every interview is personal responsibility. He does not want to give the impression that anyone is to blame for his actions but himself. The second, however, is that there are greater problems. He is not alone in this. Every year these stories come out with curious brevity, the person is let go, the paper writes a retraction, and there is no change. Now all of it is out on the table to be hacked apart by the critics of the system and those who have to live and work within it.

Is Jayson Blair a demon? Is he the penultimate in journalistic evil? Perhaps, but he had an honest love for his work, and despite having the character of a guy you warn the kids about, he is pushing for reform.

"…I think they should randomly spot check expense reports, sources and stories. It's just like after Watergate. This is like after Watergate. We got the inspector general's act. My dad is an inspector general. And it's a beautiful thing for the government. Random inspections keeps people clean. I've got to tell you, Chris, no matter how sick I was, if I knew people were doing random inspections of my work, I would have paused. I know that much."

The question now is who else will be revealed? Hopefully we're not on the verge of a witch-hunt, and it can be assumed that the great pendulum of public opinion will eventually come to rest in the middle ground. Journalism in America is beginning a knee-jerk upheaval that will last far longer than we immediately realize. As you wait and watch, wax on this: Jayson Blair received a $150,000 advance on a book detailing how he destroyed the careers of two of the nations top editors, along with the most successful African-American journalist in the world, and in doing so destroyed the credibility of an internationally renowned news organization.

"You don't think -- you don't think much of your readers at "The Times," do you?…you were lying to them. Forget the management. They're all big shots. Everybody in this -- in the Manhattan world right now is not a rich guy. They're not some snot. They're some people who work hard. They bust their butt. And they picked up the paper, the best paper in the world, and they hope they are getting the facts. And what were they getting from you? And didn't that bother you?" - Chris Matthews

Quotes taken from "The Black Table" and transcripts from "Hardball with Chris Matthews"