Inconsistent

AT&T, my local phone company, has eliminated the time-check number, just to be obnoxious.

Can you tell it’s been a slow news weekend?

For example, a headline and subhead on the front page of Monday’s WaPo reads “U.S. Promises on ( ) Don’t Match Actions. Bush Expresses Passion for Issue, but Policies Have Been Inconsistent.” Can you guess the missing word? Click here to find out if you were right. The prize for guessing correctly (or indeed for guessing incorrectly): a deep sigh and a sense of ennui.

Evidently King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia thinks that the rest of the world isn’t as serious about stopping terrorism as Saudi Arabia is. Fancy that.

The Bushies used to talk about the need to preserve Iraq’s territorial integrity, meaning the Kurds wouldn’t be allowed to split off. Curiously, when Turkey is threatening to invade, and massing men and tanks on the border (the subtle hint that the purpose of any invasion will not be confined to hunting down PKK fighters in the mountains: tanks), nary a peep do we hear about the sanctity of Iraq’s borders. Funny, that.