As the politics of an election year drag on, the folks at the Bush and Kerry campaign must feel like rival car-dealers, forced, each week, to make what is essentially the same deal, profit-wise, appear to be a unique, can't-miss-it, once in a lifetime opportunity for buyers, and to make it worthy of adding to the Sunday paper supplement.

And then it should come as no surprise that the press induldge us with the rivalric headlines which feel distinctly similar, yet oddly different from things we've heard before.

CNN tells us that Bush questions Kerry's credibility (right under the headline "Scientists say the earth is round":
Democrat John Kerry wrongly questioned the credibility of the interim Iraqi
leader, and "you can't lead this country" while undercutting an ally, President
Bush said Friday.

Meanwhile, Reuters reports that Kerry's quiver is well-stocked with arrows as well, such as the one slung here:
"I will never be a president who just says mission accomplished. I will get the
mission accomplished," said the Massachusetts senator. "That's the difference."
Kerry's speechwriters should have probably been informed that Bush never actually said 'Mission Accomplished', but for all I know, they knew this, but recognized that "I will never be a president who just makes a speech under a "mission accomplished" sign..." just didn't sound as good.

Bush may have been asking for it however...
President Bush said he had no regrets about donning a flight suit to give his "Mission Accomplished" speech on Iraq in May 2003 and would do it all over again if he had the chance, according to excerpts from an television interview released on Sunday.
When asked by Fox News if he still would have put on a flight suit to declare major combat operations in Iraq over, Bush replied, "Absolutely."
I suppose we can be grateful for Bush's brevity, even if his quadrisyllabic answer lacks that nuance that the repressed lit major in me really wants to hear.

While we're on the topic of repressed lit majors, it is appropriate to point out my favorite headline of the weekend: Kevin Costner weds, goes canoeing. Ah the elegance. Truly it could only be prettier in Foolscap. One of the fun things to do with CNN stories is to see how the headlines change from the hyperlink to the actual article. Turner nation doesn't disappoint: "Costner weds handbag designer in Aspen." No mention of the canoeing until the third paragraph:
After the ceremony the actor took his bride for a romantic canoe ride. They planned to honeymoon in Scotland.
This poor Baumgartner woman. Both the fact that they went canoeing and that she is a "handbag designer" were more relevant to CNN than her name. They might has well have ignored the marriage with this headline: "Kevin Costner goes canoeing with handbag designer". But that's why I'm not writing headlines for CNN...because otherwise, they know I'd write something like "Massachusetts man marries ketchup owner, goes windsurfing, remembers Vietnam, seeks presidency".

love it, hate it, there's more of it at Pacetown.