Sunday, September 10, 2000 -- NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (AmpolNS) -- The Internet and press are still buzzing about George "Shrubya" Bush's astounding Monday gaffe in which he called New York Times journalist Adam Clymer an "asshole.

Only one show dealt with that issue in depth -- CNN's always interesting Reliable Sources.  In fact, Bernie Kalb and "Mad" Howie Kurtz played host to Clymer, who was one of their guests.  Here's a little of what was said:

Kurtz: Joining us now: Adam Clymer, The New York Times -- welcome. Adam Clymer, for a couple of days, as television replayed this thing over and over, everyone in the world was hearing the Republican nominee calling Adam Clymer a pretty nasty name. Suddenly you were the story -- how did that make you feel?

Clymer:: Well, as the man said after being ridden out of town on a rail, "If it weren't for the honor of it, I would just as soon walked!" -- I mean, you know, it's uncomfortable, but, you know, it goes with the territory. This is just a sort of higher profile complaint from a politician who didn't like what I wrote than some others.

Kurtz: You didn't say much when asked. You talked a little bit about how you were disappointed in the governor's language. Were you restraining yourself from saying what you really thought about that kind of crack?

Clymer: Well, I really didn't want to become part of the news. I didn't want to get into a fight with a presidential nominee. I didn't want to be the news. So I figured shutting up was the easiest way to do it.

Kurtz: Bernie?

Kalb: Adam, you achieved a higher profile. Let me ask you this, 1-2-3 in a row: have you had any new job offers?

Clymer: No.

Kalb: Have you asked The Times for a salary raise?

Clymer: No!

Kalb: And what sort of guidance is The Times giving you about how to behave yourself journalistically in the future?

Clymer (smiling): None of the above -- but let's talk later about the first two points! [laughter from the panel]

Kalb: Let me ask you a serious question: is the media -- are the media making a kind of mountain of a semantic molehill?

Clymer: I guess so -- I mean, I think the story has been covered and covered and replayed on every cable network that I happen to pass by. I've had interview requests from Melbourne, Australia, and Vienna, to take the furthest ones.

Kalb: And you did them?

Clymer: No, I didn't do them -- this is the one I've done, Bernie, just you guys.

Kalb: The Bush folks says, as you know, that they feel that in some instances you've been unfair to the campaign. And there's been some other critics who say, ``Well, you wrote a biography of Ted Kennedy and perhaps you're not favorably disposed toward Republican presidential candidates.'' Unfair?

Clymer: Well, I voted for the last one, Bob Dole.

Kalb: OK.

Clymer: Yes, I think it's unfair, but it's, as I say, it comes with the territory. Democratic politicians have disliked things I've written. Republican politicians -- you know, if they all love you, you might as well just be driving a Good Humor truck.

We caught Reliable Sources on Saturday night -- and wondered if any of the Sunday chatfests would make mention of the fact that the man Dubya dubbed an "asshole" voted Republican in the '96 Presidential race.

Here's what we saw:

Fox Schmooze Sunday
Tony has to prop up Bush campaign, buries Shrub expletive in panel blather

"Are reports of Bush's political demise exaggerated?" asked Tony Snow at the top of FNS!

Well, they're understated, to stay the least.

Guest one: White House Chief of Staff John Podesta.  Tony asked about the report that OPEC has decided to pump an additional 8 billion barrels -- "Is it enough?"  Podesta characterized the move as "substantial" but added that the Clinton Administration would have to take a hard look at whether it's going to be enough to substantially stabilize prices.  Tony implied that Al Gore is oversimplifying complex issues like oil pricing -- and perhaps Tony is right, as Gore has not brought up the possibility that the Bush army is doctoring the market.

Tony turned to the Middle East and the peace process -- Podesta did not downplay the complexity of the situation.  Is Arafat willing to push back the declaration of Palestinian independence?  Podesta held out the possibility.  Tony mentioned that Leah Rabin had said that Barak is giving away too many concessions -- and Podesta said that Clinton is doing what he can to help bring the parties together.

Tony then turned to the budget battle -- Podesta said that the Prez meets with congressional leaders this week.  Tony asked if the White House has a message for Trent Lott.  Podesta laughed -- but did say Congress has a lot to do because they've done so little, and added that short-term continuing resolutions were not going to be a problem, but everything has to be wrapped up by Election Day.

Tony essentially conceded that Clinton has "won" on the budget fight, but Podesta disagreed, pointing out a number of rider problems.

Tony then said "a prescription drug benefit is important, right?"  Naturally, Podesta said yes.  But it was a  Tim Russert-style set-up; Tony then asked why there were no benefits for 3 years in the Gore plan?  Of course, Podesta used the opportunity to slam the Bush Medicare plan.

Hate crimes: is there a single crime not already prosecutable that is covered by the ate crimes bill?  Podesta said in so many words that5 that misses the point of the bill: to provide a mechanism for the federal government to rigorously prosecute hate criminals.

Near the end, Tony -- and you know he had to -- asked about the Clinton-Castro handshake that has right wingnuts foaming at the mouth.  Didn't Clinton's people realize, he asked in so many words, that Castro was out to shake Clinton's hand?  Podesta looked amused -- as he mentioned that Clinton was not exactly a policy fan of Fidel's.

Finally, Tony asked if the President was "really ticked off" with the disbarment lynching in Arkansas.  Podesta laughed at those who try to psychoanalyze Bill Clinton

The Fox O-Spin-Ion Dynamics, which is notorious for slanting towards the GOP, shows the Gore-Bush race a "dead heat" -- which means a Gore landslide.  Tony then mentioned that Bush had again changed his slogan to "Real plans for real people."

Hmmm -- I guess the only real people are rich Team 100 members of the GOP.

Tony grilled Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, asking him about tough words he had for the Bush campaign.  Ridge -- catch this -- said Gore had peaked and Bush was coming back.  Tony mentioned that Bush had tanked in Pennsylvania.  Ridge said he feels good about the campaign and likes Bush's chances.

Brit Hume continued the questioning and let Ridge claim that Gore had had a lot to do to secure his base and consolidate his party.  But Tommy, he already had his base before the convention -- and wowed the public with his big convention speech!

Ridge said he was confident that Bush would win Pennsylvania, citing "independent-thinking Democrats."  Well, if they do think independently, they'll be able to comprehend Dubya's lack of intellectual acumen -- not to mention his lack of substantial details on the issues.  Ridge said he "likes th4e new theme" and -- ha, ha, ha -- that Bush "has been able to connect the dots" -- just like this writer could at age 4!

"We've got the more likable candidates," said Ridge

Would Bush be ahead in Pennsylvania, asked Tony?  Ridge was evasive -- because he knows the answer is yes.  Tony asked about "questions about Cheney's voting record in Texas" without specifying that Cheney had not voted in 14 out of 16 elections.  Ridge rebutted criticism of Cheney's "switching states" from Texas to Wyoming.  Tony pressed the issue, mentioning that Cheney had not even submitted absentee ballots!  Ridge called it "missing a few votes" and called Cheney "a good citizen."  Ridge looked stiff and even a bit flustered.  Bush does not need "friends like Ridge" who look even more on the defensive than the Shrub himself!

There was some dull talk about the candidates' prescription drug plans... we nearly fell asleep.

Following the "half-time" break, Tony welcomed Gov. Jesse Ventura.  Will he vote for Nader?  Ventura's waiting to see -- he wants to see the debates.  Tony said that Jesse had said he doesn't know what Gore stands for - does he know now?  Jesse said he's a believer in self-sufficiency, and Gore is taking the government can fix it position.  Paula von Zahn, sexpot hostess of some evening chat show on the FOX Propaganda Cable Channel, lied and said that Gore was going to triple the size of government -- and Jesse said that Nader is for less government!  He also wants to see Nader and Buchanan in the debates.

Tony asked if Jesse wants to moderate a debate.  We say why not -- he's refereed WWF bouts.

Jesse then said that a year ago, Dems and Reeps castigated Jesse for refereeing a WWF bout and using strong language -- and now The Rock appears at the GOP convention and they like Jesse for speaking his mind!

Paula asked what happens if Pat gets his $12 million dollars, and Jesse said the impact will be that Pat will retire his campaign debts.

Jesse said that the people he talks to are not excited about the election.  Who's he talking to?

Paula said that she'd read that there are people who "intend to damage you."  Jesse gave a solid answer -- that politics is a mental battle and is a cutthroat world.  Why are people afraid of him, asked Paula -- because he's a wrestler?  Jesse said that people can relate to him, and there may be jealousy that he's able to communicate his views strongly.

Why, if Jesse is for third parties, is Jesse not party-building?  Jesse said that the third party movement in Minnesota is fine -- and it has to start at the grass roots in other states.  He recommends that they "take care of [their] own back yard," grow at the state level, then form national alliances.

Before the break, Tony said that the Clinton-Castro handshake is giving Gore headaches.  Ha, ha, ha -- they're STILL trying to tie Clinton to Gore.

More O-SPIN-Ion Dynamics nonsense -- people thing Bush would be a better financial advisor than Gore!  That's right --the guy who tanked company after company.  Paula said the week has been "incredibly tough" for Bush -- because his prescription drug plan got lost in the "debate about the debates."  Ha, ha, ha -- it got lost because Bush called Adam Clymer, who voted for Dole, an "asshole," which people noticed more than the "debate about the debates" that the press spun to make it look as if Gore, who said he'd engage in official debates "anytime, anywhere," was lying about "anytime, anywhere."  Brit was right when he dismissed the "debate over debates," but not because the debates themselves are important, as he noted.

There was lots of talk about debates -- but NO mention of the "asshole" gaffe.

Juan Williams dissed Bush's new "real people" spin -- sitting at the kitchen table with granny and grandpa talking about their problems does not exactly say "small government."

Surprise -- Tony DID run the Bush gaffe.  Brit noted that Bush is unapologetic, Paula said that the manly Karen Hughes cited some articles by Clymer.  Brit said that the Times had to run corrections to a Clymer story this week -- and Juan Williams jumped down Brit's throat about Bush's :frat boy behavior."

The Castro handshake came up -- and Paula speculated that Clinton might have snubbed him if he knew that Castro was sneaking up on him!   Ha, ha, ha.  Juan said Castro got a kick out of it, and mentioned it in his speech at Riverside Church.

They then hit the mailbag -- and someone wrote a complaint about Tony being a smart-aleck!  Oh, please -- Tony may be a conservative, but we like his smart-alecky attitude.  The other Sunday shows need more irony, humor, attitude and pomp-deflating commentary Snow-style.

Now if only one of the networks would just let a liberal with attitude even step onto a Sunday pundit set...

The McLaugh-In Group
Sunday Morning "Pope" John Tilts -- to the Hard Right

Issue one: the Gore Tilt  Gore's in the lead -- and John ran a vid clip of Bush calling himself the "underdog."  John called Gore's lead "daunting."  And he's unbiased? John said that Gore's "rhetoric" (code word for "socialism") contrasts with Clinton's 1996 "new democrat" message.  John then ranted something about Gore being anti-business.

Has class warfare brought Gore into equilibrium with Bush?  Larry Kudlow said that Bush is not willing to rebut Gore's "socialism" and has not answered Gore's specific charges -- "he's given the arena over to ore."  John cited Gore's "awesome" rapid response team.  Eleanor said that if Bush wants to ally with big polluters and big oil, well, that's his problem.  Gore's strategy is working so well, she added, that Bush is reinventing himself!  Tony cited Heisenberg (ha, ha, ha -- as if even a tenth of the policy wonks understand the Heisenberg principle) and that most campaigns are mistakes that become impossible to recover from.  Huh???

John flashed a bunch of issues ties to Gore on the TV screen, then began talking Zogby polls (snicker) and Social Security.  Larry said that low taxes and health care choice will help Bush.  Will pharmaceuticals for the aged help Bush?  Jim Warren laughed at the notion of Gore as a Preppy Marxist, saying he is a centerist, and Bush is waaay off message and can't attack to save his life.  John said that pharmaceuticals have helped America -- oh, please, John, Americans pay for other nations' socialized programs with high prices -- why won't you mention that?  Pharma companies do not sponsor your show.

John then turned, three weeks late to "the kiss" -- Gore landing the bog one on Tipper.  Women are now flocking to Gore.  Jim Warren said whiny petulance by Bush has driven some women to Gore.  John started ranting.  Eleanor said that Gore scores with women on the issues.  "They're more important than the economy?" asked John.  John obsessed about the economy, as did Kudlow -- who again said that Bush is off message. Eleanor slammed pharma company profits -- and even GOPers agree.  More screaming ensued.  "Poor George," said Jim, "the underdog with $100 million bucks!"  We loved it.  Warren added that John stays awake at night waiting for his tax cut.  We can picture him in bed -- sweating, ranting, bellowing for more money from GE, and less deducted for Big Government.

What should Bush do to regain "mo"?
Larry: Make his tax position clear.
Eleanor: Kudlow is a supply-side cultist, 2/3 of the country say it's going in the right direction.  Yet MORE shouting ensued.
Tony: Bush has to explain why his proposals are good and Gore's bad
Jim: Bush has to be optimistic
John: Bush has to go negative

Issue two: Ho-lee Joe! We thought John might have been trying to link Joe Lieberman to Wen Ho Lee the way he introduced the segment, but instead we saw Lieberman talk religion in a lengthy sequence of video bites.  John spun it as "controversial" -- as if all the holy rolling of the GOP for the last decade had never happened.  Eleanor noted that unlike some GOPers, Joe Lieberman is not pushing for prayer legislation.  Warren laughed about McLaugh-In going from Archimedes to Heisenberg to Moses -- and said that Joe is not linking his religion to a policy agenda.  Tony lied and said Joe is tying faith to prescription drug benefits.  hey, Tony, would Lieberman do that to Christian Scientists?  John asked if God would save Gore from the immoral Clinton, in so many words.  Eleanor said, wrongly, that Clinton is history.

Hey, Eleanor, wait until the budget fight -- he's no lame duck

Goofball predictions!
Larry said that "in a likely Bush administration" Steve Forbes and Arthur Laffer would be senior economic advisors.  Great -- supply-side voodoo will tank the economy!
Eleanor predicted Gore will get the 50% popular vote on Election Day " that Bill Clinton didn’t get in two previous elections." 
Tony forecast congressional GOPers " follow[ing] Governor Bush’s lead" and passing his flavor of the prescription drug bill.
Jim: after "bashing Firestone, Ford, and government regulators,"  Congress will do nothing.
John foresees PNTR for China passed by the Senate -- and China in the WTO before Christmas. 

Deface the Nation
Schieffer undermines a "debate on debates"

We caught the first segment of Face the Nation.  Bob Schieffer interviewed Janet Brown from  about the status of the debates.  Brown said that the committee was open to a modified format for the debates -- but it would probably be impossible to change the schedule and venues for the planned debates.

Tom Daschle followed, and he was optimistic about passing an increase in the minimum wage.  What was obvious was that Daschle knows this is a winning issue for Dems either way.  GOP blocks it -- Dems play it up.  It passes -- Dems play it up.  Gloria Borger suggested that Dems want a government shutdown.  Daschle said "that's ridiculous" -- and pointed out that the GOP botched legislative scheduling.  Now, on the former, Daschle knows full well that the GOP loses if the government shuts down, so his claim that the notion is "ridiculous" is not true -- but what else can he say?

Schieffer tried to make an issue of Lieberman not stepping aside in the Connecticut Senate race and the possibility that a GOP Governor would appoint a Republican to replace Lieberman.  Daschle said it's not his call, and he can't ask Lieberman to give up a seat he's been elected to.  Schieffer raised the possibility of a 50-50 tie after the November elections -- and Lieberman being replaced by a GOPer bringing it to 49.  Daschle quite boldly predicted that the Senate would return to Democrat control.  we don't buy that -- but it will be very, very close.

Daschle said that he does want an agreement on prescription drug benefits -- and reminded Borger that "you can have both the accomplishment and the issue."

What are the odds of the Dems talking back the Senate?  Daschle pegged it at a 53-54% chance.

We think he's overly optimistic -- but we won't rule out an ouster of the GOP from the Senate yet.

Eat the Press
Tim's Bottom-Feeding Session from Some Parallel Reality

Tim Russert, whose girth has grown to such obscene proportion that he could cultivate a second career as a sumo wrestler, opened Eat the Press with the single filthiest House member in history, Tom DeLay -- himself under investigation by the Justice Department -- to defend fellow Texan moron George DumbBellYou Bush.

DeLay claimed that Clinton is addicted to spending! Ha, ha, ha, ha -- pork-barrel Tommy is one to talk! Then he claimed that the GOP "stopped" the President from spending, balanced the budget, and "helped" Medicare. He is trying to keep the President's "spending addiction" in check. Well, gee, George the felon BushDaddy (Mister Iran-Contra) left us 350 billion dollars in debt when he was kicked out of the Oval Office in 1992 and Ron Reagan, bless his heart, left us deeper in debt than at any time in history.

Arguing the Gore side, Senator Chris "Wall Street" Dodd faced the swine DeLay. Dodd was just not good at it. He minced words and simply did not attack DeLay as he should have. DeLay -- who was wearing so much makeup that it was dripping off his face on camera -- pretended to be soft-spoken and well-considered. Dodd let him get away with it.

DeLay lied repeatedly -- and "admitted" that under the Clinton Administration the GOP-controlled (not!) House paid off the Bush $350 billion debt. This was a lie. Only because the President vetoed the huge GOP spending bills were they FORCED to pay down the debt -- by the White House, not by the big-spending obstructionist GOP who spend what money they might control on Corporate Welfare and tax gifts to the rich -- that is, when they're not busy pissing money down the toilet on politically motivated and thoroughly corrupt "investigations" of anyone in the Clinton Administration that they can find an excuse to scapegoat.

It was a joke. But Dodd couldn't handle it.

He should not be relied on to defend the White House.

The Hate Crimes bill came up. DeLay also blamed the President for the failure of the GOP-controlled Congress to pass a budget bill.

DeLay, of course, does not want a bill aimed at bigots -- his core supporters.

The funniest thing on the show was the discussion of the cancellation of "A Tribute to Ken Starr" -- a right wing event calculated to raise money for the idiot members of the House "Mangler" Impeachment Lynch Mob who are losing their seats at this time.

Starr, of course, couldn't raise a dime for them -- he is the single most hated figure in our nation's public life, and has been for nearly three years.

The issue of Lieberman running for both the Senate and the Vice Presidential slot came up. We also think that Lieberman should resign from the Senate race in Connecticut -- it just seems so seedy and manipulative, and now very Democratic. If he wins -- which he surely will -- then Governor John Rowland of Connecticut, a Republican, would be able to appoint a GOPer to serve out his term, but if Lieberman steps down now, a Dem candidate could ride Lieberman's coattails.

Jesse Ventura, always available to Russert because they are of about the same intellectual girth, was on next -- touting his new book which attacks the press, but defends Russert -- ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. Ventura is a moron -- but he's our moron (and our own Tamara Baker's Governor), and we'd like to see him debate George DumbBellYou Bush. What a frightfest that would be. Ventura said nothing as usual -- but his errors -- like saying he would in "In like Flint" rather than the "In like Flynn" he should have -- are always entertaining.

Russert then welcomed a really weak team of pundits to discuss the Presidential race.

First up was Al Hunt of the Wall Street Journal which has never printed a word of political truth since its founding. He said nothing of consequence.

Bill Bennett -- the best candidate we know to play Hitler on the Washington stage -- was there to defend Bush, and made it clear that he wants Bush to be on offense, not defense. His vomit-inducing line is that "Despite how bad the Bush team has done over the past month, isn't it amazing and great that Bush is still neck-and-neck with Gore?"

Well, Bill, he isn't -- and the polls being done for public consumption by the major media outlets are a joke, sampling 250 people across the country to decide where the race is today! That is tantamount to fraud.

Bennett went on and on, and Russert let him. Then David Gergen, another GOP whore and Judas to Bill Clinton, chimed in by saying that "questions" about Gore's credibility -- in other words, Bush's lies about Gore -- should be continued. Look at this panel: Al Hunt is no more a Democrat than Tom DeLay. Bill Bennett is an unabashed whore for the evangeli-wacko Christian right, and has gone so far as to write a book -- paid for by modern-day fascists -- which attacked Hillary and Chelsea, Gore, and the President viciously. He has sold his intellect to the highest bidder -- and is the worst of the so-called commentating press we've seen.

Al Hunt did say that W. has a hard time talking about camping finance reform. We don't hear him attacking Bush for his sleazy payoffs to big campaign contributors. Bennett then said that Al Gore lied to the FBI -- another lie.

Gergen said that that latest trashy ad that the morons leading the Bush campaign in Texas have cooked up is nothing more than an overdone lie! He said Bush should go back to "plain-spokenness" -- another word for monosyllabic idiot-speak. Ha, ha, ha! Bush certainly excels at that -- although reputedly "educated" at Andover and Yale. Not.

Al Hunt finally woke up and attacked Bush for non-specificity. The idiot GOP voters are now claiming -- LED BY RUSSERT -- that Gore has no specific plans, but merely wants to spend more. Russert continued to lead the charge delivering a stupid monologue attacking Gore because he doesn't think he is specific enough -- although Gore put out a virtual book outlining the details of his plans.

Bill Bennett, bottom-feeder that he is, said that Bush is the real education candidate.

Sure, Bill -- then why is Bush the Governor of the number 50 out of 50 state in education?

Liar Bennett talked about family farmers -- there are practically none, so few that the Census itself wrote family farmers off the census categorization nearly a decade ago! He then said that tax breaks for the rich are okay because Americans all strive to be rich.

Bennett has been showing up with far too much frequency on pundit TV. His presence without that of a genuinely balancing voice betrays the hard-right bias of the Sunday chat circuit. But his bankruptcy of genuine intellect -- not to mention false depiction of Bush as the candidate of character -- underscores both the futility and desperation of the right, who see the writing on the wall: they will lose their power base in the House and are being pushed to where they belong, the margins of American politics.

This Weak
Hit the snooze alarm!

This Weak led with "news" from Campaign 2000 (downplaying the death spiral of George DumbYa Bush) -- and the first guests were Bob’s Big Boy look-alike Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge (R) and Iowa Senator Tom Harkin (D).

Cokie Roberts immediately led the discussion to the “debate about debates” (what "debate?  we all know that Dubya's trying to weasel out of real debates) and Ridge clearly attempted to dismiss the issue altogether and "focus" attention on what Bush spent the week doing in Pennsylvania (zzzzzz...).

Harkin said that Governor Bush’s debate strategy clearly showed that Bush does not want to debate Al Gore.  Wow, what a stretch, Tom!  Tell us something that people with half a brain don't know already!  Ridge countered that the debate "issue" was legitimate inasmuch as it is a "character" issue. Harkin quipped that since the Bush camp can’t hang with Gore on the issues, they will go the route of character assassination (good one, Tom).  Loose with the facts as always, Ridge then assessed Gore as “not a centrist Democrat but a 'central government' Democrat.”

The next segment featured Sam Donaldson's hairpiece in an interview with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. One would think that an exclusive one-on-one with an important figure would lead any news or public affairs show. However, one minute into the interview, it became obvious why ABC News decided to bury Sam and his mindless exchange with Barak: toward the end of the interview, Barak finally lost his patience with Sam’s stupid questions and interjections when he shook his head and quipped “C’mon Sam...” which, distorted by his heavy accent, sounded like “C’mon man!”  Sam was reduced to appearing like an antagonizing teenager being lectured by his exasperated father.

We hope every elected Democrat was taking notes.

The third segment featured Sam and a live interview of Jesse "The Body" Ventura, who was making the rounds plugging his latest concussion-polluted stream of consciousness (a book called "I Can Kick Your Pencilneck Ass" or some such). Ventura proved that he could give Dubya a run for his money as the public figure with the poorest grasp of the English language. The highlight of the morning came when Ventura asserted that “[women] haven’t exploited themselves as they could,” referring to the lack of a female presence in political offices.

Ventura interviews are always so entertaining -- I don’t know why the ABC producers wouldn’t just let Ventura stumble his way to the end of the show. Instead, they broke for the Round Table Discussion (zzzzzz...) -- or, more accurately, the "Clown Table Discussion."

The panel of goofballs focused on the increasingly sagging Bush numbers -- nothing engaging, nothing new. I wondered why they ignored Congress’ return to the Hill until I began to daydream…wondering when the caterpillars that are Sam Donaldson’s eyebrows would finally jump off his face and morph into butterflies.

Now that would be great TV!

So... 

Outside of Adam Clymer's very telling appearance on Reliable Sources, there was near-total avoidance of the Bush "asshole" flap.  The networks are either scared or unwilling to admit the obvious: that Bush has neither the restraint nor intelligence to handle the top job in the nation.

But let's face it -- they aren't going to make such a declaration with just under 60 days until the election.  They'll misreport Bush's attempts to weasel out of debates as a "debate over debates" and practically ignore his hypocritical gaffe.

After all, they've got two months of airtime to fill here, and they need a horse race.