The headline Mickey Kaus draws attention to is “Sagging Economy Draws Attention to War Spending.” In reality, somebody — e.g., Obama, the NYT — is trying to tell us to look at Y instead of X. The headline absurdly infuses the “sagging economy” with the will and the capacity to cause “attention” to be diverted to the subject of war spending.
The word “attention” also drains the headline of human will. The truth is that Obama/the NYT would like people to look at war spending instead of the economy.
At this point, I think they’d like us to look at pretty much anything instead of the economy, which unexpectedly continues to underperform, something that might otherwise draw attention to how the treasury was looted on behalf of crony groups, in the name of “stimulus.”
Best short take in the comments: “More mush from the pimps.” This is just a placeholder, though. Watch while they try to figure out a way to blame unemployment — now roughly double what it was when Democrats took Congress back in 2006 — on the Tea Party or Sarah Palin or something.