The 24-7 Effect:

It is interesting to see how the constant coverage, especially given the live and direct nature of it, has distorted time. One would think (and indeed, it does kind of feel this way) that the war had been going on for months, not two weeks (indeed, as I write this we are still an hour shy of the two-week mark). The examples of this are rampant in the press. The headlines over the weekend, for example, that made comparisons to the quagmire of Vietnam, are illustrative. How can a quagmire develop in 10 days?

A key example tonight was Howard Fineman reporting on MSNBC about the president and how "burdened" (referencing this USA Today story) and “isolated” he has been, and talking about how the President was going to have to get out and be seen. Now, I know for a fact that the President gave a public speech last Wednesday, and I thought made at least one other public appearance since. But even if the last time was the Florida speech, it has only been a week! How can one be "isolated" after a week? The time dilation and distortion here is really remarkable.