As I've mentioned recently, my family and I are traveling, which means not only that I'm not able to blog as often as my addiction demands but also that many mornings I'm greeted with a free copy of USA Today, which I'm happy to say is worth every penny.

Monday, for example, before I'd even made a dent in my first cup of coffee, I saw on the front page a picture of Kerry in casual miltary garb standing next to a rifle-holding William Rood, who as everyone knows has just published in the Chicago Tribune a defense of Kerry's (and, more emphatically, others') behavior in the incident that led to Kerry's silver star. The blurb under the picture, however, says that Rood says the "attacks on Kerry are wrong." (Emphasis added. I can't find this picture or caption online.) I read the Rood piece and, even better, Beldar's long and fair analysis of it, and it is quite evident that Rood, quite consciously, takes unusual care to make it clear that he is responding only to criticisms of Kerry in this one incident, and to no other "attacks."

It is also noteworthy, as long as I'm here, that USA Today does say without qualification in that front page picture blurb that Rood "served in Vietnam with John Kerry." Apparently veterans who are thought to support Kerry "served with" him even if they were not on the same boat, but veterans who criticize him are disqualified from comment if they were not Kerry's crew members.

But wait. There's more. On page 9A there is a long (by USA Today standards) article under the bold headline, "July job figures decline in six swing states." The lede:

Twenty-two states reported a drop in payroll jobs last month, double the number for June, according to new Labor Department statistics. Among them were six of the states tht could decide this fall's presidential election.

I think the only thing unclear here is whether this headline writer was biased or incompetent.