So.

Yesterday the president addressed some questions about the unfortunate hunting accident. Or, as I like to say, "You know Dick Cheney? He shot a dude." I think one of the president's comments illustrates a lot about the complete absence of honest political dialogue from this administration and, really, all of Washington's big players.

Allow me to digress and set the stage. According to published reports (please don't be mean and make me go find them!), then-Governor Bush and Karl Rove got together and addressed the issue of why the elder President Bush wasn't re-elected. While they probably came up with more than one reason, the public perception of the elder Bush as a weak leader became their focus. Karl Rove hatched a strategy titled (literally!) "Strong Leader."

In retrospect, this wasn't an election strategy but an advertising campaign. It has all the substance and complexity of a toothpaste promotion. In some ways, the president is a strong leader, but this is silly. Listen to the rhetoric of the president and his minions when they deploy their talking points and check for the buzzwords: "strong," "powerful," "forceful," etc... This is worse than baby food or Teletubbies. This is a key part of how they gained this office.

It's gotten to the point where the advertising of "strong leader" is rote for the president and his cohorts. Any answer to any question uses language to depict and reveal metaphors of strength. Ask them if a policy is good and they'll say it's powerful. Ask them who made a decision and they say it drew from the strengths across the administration. They're not lying, they don't care what they reveal as long as you think the president is strong because of it.

Now consider this quote from an official White House transcript of the President's remarks (this is the complete response to a question about how the VP handled the disclosure of the event):

• I thought the Vice President handled the issue just fine. He went through -- and I thought his explanation yesterday was a powerful explanation. This is a man who likes the outdoors and he likes to hunt. And he heard a bird flush and he turned and pulled the trigger and saw his friend get wounded. And it was a deeply traumatic moment for him, and obviously for the -- it was a tragic moment for Harry Whittington.

  And so I thought his explanation yesterday was a very strong and powerful explanation, and I'm satisfied with the explanation he gave.

In a court of law, this would be branded non-responsive. It so mangles the entire concept of the question or any reasonable question about the shooting accident that it's beyond worthless (although you can guess what ABC and PBS played for the soundbites I saw). No comment of, "I understand why he delayed," or "he's explained that and I'm happy with the explanation." Instead, the explanation the VP gave isn't persuasive, credible, comprehensive or true. It's "strong and powerful!"

Consider this the next time you hear soundbites from the President and his supporters. What key phrases do they all repeat? Are they doing "strong leader" today? Or is it "compassion and caring" day? Maybe tomorrow will be "defender of life" day (although that's pretty much "strong leader" talk). This isn't lying. This is refusing to debate or discuss.

This is free TV commercials.

Watch the news on TV, read the reports on any news website or newspaper. Rather than punish these people for their abuse of political dialogue, the reporters regurgitate the talking points and the analysis is limited to what the strategy for victory is. The analysis is rarely about the merits of a debate or assisting us in gathering the right facts to understand those merits. Today, the news establishment is as gulity as the politicians. They know the game of talking points and advertising tricks and they act like it's important. They're more to blame than any politician.

Now, don't think I'm saying the Democrats are any better, but it's not like they have an effective campaign going. Oh sure, they have their days, but let's not get carried away. They would do it too, if they knew how. Meanwhile, lefty kooks run around claiming the vice president was drunk when he was hunting. Sure, and Vince Foster was murdered by Hillary Clinton. Come on, any paper that could get evidence of these stories would publish in a flash. They don't because there isn't any. But that's the only reporting they'll do these days: scandal.

CDs listened to today:

• Poor Rich Ones: Happy Happy Happy
• Andrew Bird: Andrew Bird & The Mysterious Production of Eggs
• David Ott: Symphony No. 2
• Frank Sinatra: The Capitol Years, disk 2
• Luigi Nono: Como una ola de fuerza y luz
• Billie Holiday: The Quintessential Billie Holiday, Volume 8
• Erik Satie: Relache