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The mainstream press finally got around to mentioning the Downing Street memo, sort of.

RNC chair Ken Mehlman answered Tim Russert's tender inquiries into the matter by falsely claiming the memo had been "discredited" and adding that he "respectfully disagreed" with it, as if the existence of the memo and the substance of its contents were a matter of opinion.

Then, Reuters correspondent Steve Holland asked Tony Blair and George W. Bush, "On Iraq, the so-called Downing Street memo from July 2002 says intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy of removing Saddam through military action. Is this an accurate reflection of what happened? Could both of you respond?"

Holland should have asked if the memo was "an accurate reflection of what happened" in the meeting, but didn't, so Mr. Blair was able to ignore the memo entirely and repeat his Iraq talking points, saying that "the facts were not being fixed in any shape or form at all." No one asked Mr. Blair the obvious follow-up: "Are you saying that the statements in the so-called Downing Street memo do not accurately reflect what was said in the meeting?"

Mr. Bush followed Mr. Blair by suggesting that the memo had been politically motivated without addressing its validity. He was careful not to say the memo had been "leaked"--which would suggest it was true--but that someone had "dropped it out"--as if it were an unpleasant-smelling substance of unknown origin found in the locker room at the country club rather than what it was: the minutes of a Downing Street meeting attended by, among others, Mr. Blair, the Defense Secretary, the Foreign Secretary, and the Attorney-General of Great Britain.

So, the Downing Street memo was carefully raised and carefully answered, everyone doing their part in the made-for-TV version of democracy that the GOP and the press have been putting on for us.

Which leads us to our game of "Name That Dodge": Can you guess, poor readers, how the administration will handle future inquiries into the Downing Street memo (if there are any) now that it has been timidly raised twice (sort of) by the press?

Here's how:

*Roll of the eyes* "We have been over this and over this. We've answered all these questions already. This has been looked at and looked at, and now it's time to move on to subjects that matter to the American people."

And if that doesn't work (though it will) they'll go to this one: "We need to be very careful about giving creedence to crazy rumors that might give comfort to the terrorists who are determined to attack us."

Oh, you bet they'll say that. Yes they will.