[*] My Media Goat

HOLY MOLEY! WELCOME SLATE.COM READERS!

If you haven't today read this story on President Bush's visit to Afghanistan, do so at your leisure. However, leave your goat in the pen lest the details of this report get him or her.

First of all, who's the Woodward or Bernstein asking the question, "do you think the U.S. will ever capture Osama Bin Laden?" (or words to that effect) That's not even a softball: that's a rice cake. What is the President of the United States supposed to say to that?

"Well, Charlie, the world is a very complicated place with many nuanced subtexts in international relations. The apprehension of Bin Laden is a high priority which may never materialize, but even if we think it's completely futile we are committed in the budget to spend another $300 million to find him."

Please.

What's worse, I think, is the second paragraph of the article I linked to:

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- President Bush, on an unannounced visit to Afghanistan, vowed Wednesday to stand by this emerging democracy despite a resurgence of violence, saying "the United States is not cut and run."

He also pledged that Osama bin Laden and other planners of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks would be caught despite a mostly futile five-year hunt.

The emphasis is mine. "Mostly-futile"? Who is in Guantanamo Bay allegedly being tortured because they are not allowed to starve themselves to death if the effort has been "mostly futile"?

These guys are too much.