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A reader shares an out-of-body media experience:

Subject: The General vs the Deserter
Date: Mon, 26 Jan 2004 10:39:54 -0500

I was in a hole in the wall diner yesterday and there was a small tv on in the corner, playing Meet the Press. Tim Russert was interviewing Wes Clark and he grilled Clark for 5 - 10 minutes on Michael Moore's rally cry last week of Bush being a deserter. "Is it appropriate to call the President of the US a deserter...Do you have any evidence that George Bush was a deserter....Would you call the President...."etc etc. Clark said Michael Moore is allowed to say anything he wants, I'm proud to have him as a supporter, we have free speech here, it's not how I would handle it and anyway I don't know what Bush did, I just know we need to get this country back on track, etc. etc.

Anyway, we're finishing our eggs and an older man gets up, walks to the door (the man and my wife and I were the only people in this place besides the owner/cook and he was sitting closer to the tv than we were), and says to someone who just walked in, "what do you think about Clark calling the president a deserter? That's not right! Who is he to say that?"

My wife and I looked at each other completely bewildered....we had just watched the exact same interview!

Then, to drive the point home that I really am the crazy one here, with poor listening skills, after the interview Tim Russert is sitting with Tom Brokaw and some other geniuses who'll tell us all what the interview means. Regarding the answers to the Michael Moore questions, Brokaw described Wes Clark as "fumbling around for answers".

One thing's for certain: Russert and Brokaw will never discuss George Bush's military record with someone who isn't running for President against him. Because then they'd have to discuss--well, George Bush's military record--and not the "appropriateness" of someone else's comments about it.

201k urges Russert and Brokaw to join Peter Jennings and Michel Moore, and collectively pursue their interest in this topic with a thorough investigation. That way we can all put it behind us and get on with the 2004 election.