A.P. reporter Nedra Pickler was probably assigned to write a simple, short story regarding the President of the United States biking in Crawford with the Champion cyclist of the world, Lance Armstrong.  Still, in a short 408 word essay, Pickler managed to insert the standard Bush-bash line.  Earth-shattering?  No.  Unexpected?  Not at all.  Petty?  Indeed.

Says Pickler in her story: "Armstrong calls Bush a friend, but he has spoken out against the war in Iraq and has said he wants the government to spend more money on cancer." research.

You sometimes just have to laugh, otherwise you may scream.  So, Armstrong is a friend of Bush...or is he?  Pickler adds just enough doubt to leave the reader thinking.  Lance Armstrong sits on the Presidents Cancer Council, is a fellow Texan, and is a friend of George W. Bush.  Is this of particular importance?  No.  But then again, neither was Nedra Pickler's gratuitous cheap shot finding its way into a simple essay regarding cycling. 

When they’re not outright telling us what to think, the AP sometimes points out the tediously banal and attempts to use that to influence public opinion. Take today’s John Roberts-bashing piece called, “Roberts' Writings Reveal Strong Views.”

Among his insidious “views,” are these; “In one paper for his boss, he slipped in that he routinely worked until 10:30 at night,” and “He joked when a $25 ticket was dismissed that the hearing examiner's ‘learning and insight are wasted at Traffic Court.’” And, probably most shocking of all, “He once wrote an entire memo in French.”

Bob Costas made news today for not hosting a show and immediately became my hero:

While some cable TV hosts are making their living off the Natalee Holloway case this summer, Bob Costas is having none of it.

Costas, hired by CNN as an occasional fill-in on "Larry King Live," refused to anchor Thursday's show because it was primarily about the Alabama teenager who went missing in Aruba. Chris Pixley filled in at the last minute.

"I didn't think the subject matter of Thursday's show was the kind of broadcast I should be doing," Costas said in a statement. "I suggested some alternatives but the producers preferred the topics they had chosen. I was fine with that, and respectfully declined to participate."

The Natalee Holloway story is very sad, but should have run its course months ago. Thanks to a slow news summer (at least until Cindy Sheehan showed up), the story had legs far beyond that which would have been expected. The tropical paradise, the beautiful blond...everything a tabloid show could wish for.

CNN reports that the media is waiting for Cindy Sheehan's return. They think that she is the new Messiah I guess.

I believe this whole nonsense is partly a diversion from having to cover the Air America Scandal.