I was a little disappointed in the old Kansas City Star this morning. They have this little political buzz box on A2 every morning, and usually it's pretty entertaining. Today they crossed the line, however. There was a quote from a late night talk show which contained a punchline having to do with President Bush wearing no clothes in the presence of Dr. Rice. On its own merit the joke seemed a little sketch, but then the editors decided to go a step further by enclosing a picture of President Bush's face pasted on a nude body with it's sesnsitivities covered by an oversized necktie.

One of the great things about this country is that we can disagree with our leaders. Different press outlets carry their own biases, but at least you tend to know what those biases are. If someone is significantly biased against the administration, they can say whatever they want. But with much freedom comes much responsibility, especially if you consider yourself to be a reputable news service. I understand that the rags in New York and European tabloids often resort to off-color jokes about their leaders and scandalous photos of celebs in order to move product, but that doesn't mean our newspapers have to follow suit.

Kansas City Star, you can do better. I love to read you, but I need more than this. If I wanted to pay someone to schlep Mad Magazine into my front yard, I'd do so. But I don't. I want someone to bring me the news. So don't degrade our public officials, cheapen public offices and make me as an American and a Kansas Citian look ignorant in they eyes of the world. I don't appreciate that. If you want to disagree with foreign policy, then do so respectfully and articulately. That's why you pay people to write. Because they (supposedly) can do it better than most people. Not because they do good imitations of partisan blogs.

Fair Dinkum