Dubya, Buster and Sundance...just to name a few

Loads of stories have presented large distractions over the past few days. Some important, some insidious. But what struck me in particular?

- Bush's surprise news conference was a blatent attempt to hijack the rapidly increasing drumbeat of badness yesterday. Many of the things he said got no coverage whatsoever. Almost all of his reponses deserved some sort of follow-up question to clarify. None received such clarifications. And his jokey-while-still-pissy demeanor was vintage Dubya. This was truly Must-Re-SeeTV.

- Max Boot in the LATimes tries to trash Sy Hersh as a journalistic equivalent of Oliver Stone. Totally out-of-bounds insults, especially when you balance that assessment with what a disaster "Alexander" turned out to be. Boot does, however, provide good background on some of Hersh's less-inspiring work. I only wish someone would do the same when it comes to filling in Boot's own blanks. His bio for the Council on Foreign Relations hits his conservative with a big "c" high points. I'm more interested in the lowly truths of his past positions ("mirror, mirror, on the wall...").

- To take the heat off the insult of Armstrong Williams' defense of his illegal propagandizing, Howard Kurtz's payola outing of Maggie Gallagher gives the almost-always-entertaining Maureen Dowd the chance to joke about changing teams this morning. Count me in too, Mo. With a baby on the way in a matter of days, I can use the scratch.

- Speaking of kids, I don't know if I'll be able to see to the Vermont episode of "Postcards From Buster" but you can bet the lesbian-run-farm that I'll be trying. In an act of inspired triviality for HER FIRST WEEK ON THE JOB, new Secretary of Education Margaret "Karl Rove Asked Me Out and I Had the Good Sense to Turn Him Down" Showing that she's ready to be a good lit'l soldier almost immediately, Spellings attacked the PBS program for having Buster go to Vermont on an upcoming episode. Apparently, it isn't the high fat-content desserts that worry her. Good to see the New Bushies are keeping the eye on the ball in the first inning. James Dobson must be very satisfied.

- My new favorite TV show of the moment is the Sundance Channel's "Festival Dailies" - a tour de force navel-gazing shmooze-arama. I feel like a cheeseball watching it, but eat it like candy. I went to Park City once when I was a kid. In the summer. Boy, did I beat the crowds on that particular occasion (it was 1981, after all). And to add heft to the anecdote, that visit was actually a particularly movie-centric period in my life. While there, I saw "Stripes" twice with my older brother while our parents shmoozed with their fur farmer friends. Seriously. Two nights in a row. I was 12 years old and I never was the same again. So I feel somewhat in sync with the current Sundance cinemaphilic buzz. Or so I claim at the more glamourous parties I regularly attend.