Politicians cover the country, and campaign. They say things. No one believes what they say. And no one has any reason to believe what they say.

Presidential candidates appear on Tim Russert's Meet the Press. Tim Russert's big thing appears to be the "inconsistent quote" lurking in the past... as if that's the biggest and most frigtening discredit a politician can have. Is it? I don't really know. It is a strange ritual, though.