It's painful to watch television news producers try to figure out the relative importance of the unfolding stories of the 13 trapped miners in West Virginia, and the more than 13 trapped Congressmen in Washington.
For some decades, under market pressures, the goal of journalism has been morphing from telling truths to telling stories. Today, nothing is easier for an ideologue to do than fabricate a he-said/she-said dispute and get it covered.
There are few speeches more forgettable than these. The most memorable State of the Union moment in recent times is Bush's 16-word-long lie about yellowcake from Niger.
The legions of lickspittles and lapdogs training for State of the Union night media bookings are frantically thumbing their copies of Harry Potter in search of charms to convert sow's ears into silk purses.
White House officials said yesterday that Bush's State of the Union speech "was still being fact-checked." "Fact-checked"? I'm trying to get my mind around what that means to this White House.
To take the SOTU as gospel, you've probably got to have the mindset of someone who still thinks that Saddam planned 9/11. Or that Iraq won't descend into civil war the moment we leave, whether it's in six months or six years. Or that spaghetti grows on trees.
