A lot of comparison has been made of the similarities between the blogger free-for-all, The Huffington Post, and newly minted "political salon" of The Daily Beast. And you can see why: both are run by similarly-aged, blonde (one strawberry) editrixes, who were friends back in London town, both appeal to that elite liberal media sensibilities that John McCain and the GOP rails against so frequently, and both (the women and the sites) market in the type of smug, self-selection of writers who enjoy adding the word "blogger" after their already myriad of other job titles. Oh, and they are indebted to Barry Diller: Brown, because he helped finance TDB, and Huffington because she and Barry partnered together under some weird arrangement to get the political humor site 23/6 off the ground and into semi-funny territory.

But given all their similarities, surely there is some line to draw in the sand.

Hell yeah there is:

Ms. Brown has a reputation as a profligate spender from her magazine days, and in an introduction to readers on the site she promised not to bankrupt Mr. Diller. “Even I don’t know how to spend money that fast,” she wrote. Still, The Daily Beast commissions articles and pays writers.

The Daily Beast, if you are considered qualified enough to write for Ms. Brown, will actually pay you. The Huffington Post? Not so much.

So let's take a guess on who Barry Diller likes more, at this point. And remember: Barry Diller likes keeping his moneys.