One has to wonder if Ron Burkle ever went to high school.

Is the concept of "do what we want or we'll make your life hell" really that new or shocking? Doesn't it happen, not only in highs school, but in high society as well? Isn't that the basis of power in just about any system?

For some reason, the way things work over at Page Six was a surprise to the mogul millionaire turned column writer, who is concerned that gossip is going beyond celebrities to politicians and Wall Streeters. (He left out media people.)

Because he wouldn't out his friends (celeb or otherwise) to the Post, he writes, Page Six targeted him.

But consider what the New York Times reported about the way business is done at Page Six: "Keeping a list of reliable sources, of course, means having a list of people who need to be protected somewhat. Those who cooperate — called 'friends of the column,' according to people who work with and at Page Six — are rewarded; those who fight back are punished."

At the risk of getting too liberal New Yorker political like, we encourage Burkle, and everyone else who lives in la la land where everyone plays fair, to look at our "with us or against us" administration. It just seems pretty obvious that this particular mantra is not specific to the media world — the merging of tabloids, gossip, journalism and blogs aside — but is just the way things are more or less done by people in power. And Page Six has power over any high-profile member of society.

It seems Burkle has people to protect and things to hide himself … or else he would have just played the "ignore them and they will go away" game. Right?

Then again, we've been doing that with the President, Paris Hilton and Jon Friedman, and it really isn't working.

Yellow Peril [Ron Burkle, Wall Street Journal]