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Sidney Blumenthal's departure from Salon's Washington bureau is sounding more and more like a breakup with every statement released to the press.

Yesterday, Lloyd Grove quoted Salon CEO and Editor-in-Chief David Talbot as saying, "We're still very fond of Sidney and very appreciative of his talents and deeply want him to continue to have a relationship with Salon." Anyone who's ever been on the business-end of a dumping knows what that means: "It's not you, it's me... Can't we still be friends?"

But Talbot seems to have hardened since that gentle break, telling The Washington Post's 'Names and Faces' that "He was just what I wanted at the time I wanted it." That's the old, "We're in different places right now... We'll both be better off apart."

Next, Talbot's gonna be saying, "Look, Sid is like totally clingy! He texts me all day long and when I go out with my girlfriends, he always calls and asks if I'm cheating on him. You guys, he's driving me crazy. I need my space! And, besides, this is my senior year: I need to spend time with my friends and have fun, okay?"

Or, perhaps he'll say something else.
Salon, farewell, to D.C. chief [NYD]
Another Vacancy in Washington [WaPo]
An unchanged landscape in Washington [Sid's Latest Salon column]