The lipstick hasn’t even dried from the Washington Post’s kiss off of a Pentagon-organized march commemorating Sept. 11, and the Washington Times already has stepped in to sponsor Freedom Walk.

“We offered to help with free advertising,” Dick Amberg, general manager and vice president of the Times, told Editor and Publisher. “It seems like a very reasonable thing to do in terms of public service.”

The Washington Post announced Aug. 15 that it backed out of co-sponsoring the event, which includes a procession from the Pentagon to the Mall and a performance by country star Clint Black. (You might remember him from such songs as “I Raq and Roll.”) The Post had received criticism from antiwar groups and journalists in the Post’s own newsroom for supporting an event that could be on the fast track to being politicized.

The Times’ offered to publish PSAs for Freedom Walk–pretty much what the Post was going to do before it came under attack. The only catch is that the Pentagon hasn’t accepted yet.

The Times is not the only local media outlet itching for some sponsorship action. ABC WJLA-TV Channel 7, News Channel 8, 630 WMAL and WTOP Radio Network have retained their sponsorships of the event despite WaPo’s mea culpa.