PERSPECTIVELESS DOPES: It’s come to this: CNN apologizes … after guest uses “crosshairs” metaphor.

Am I hallucinating or didn’t this same network once have an entire show devoted to heated political debate called … “Crossfire”? With a crosshairs logo? How did the republic survive while it was on the air?

And in six weeks, they’ll be doing that sort of thing again as if this moment had never occurred.

UPDATE: Reader Steven Jens writes: “Did CNN ever apologize for Anderson Cooper’s use of the term ‘teabagger’?”

ANOTHER UPDATE: CNN didn’t apologize, but Anderson Cooper did.

MORE: Don Surber is not buying it.

MORE STILL: John Nolte writes:

CNN apologizing for a guest using the word crosshairs is more devious than hypcritical.

Its a way for them to keep the focus on Palin, to insinuate without outright saying so that “crosshairs” and therefore Palin was wrong.

“We weren’t criticizing Palin, we were criticizing ourselves.”

But in doing so… Devious.

Good point. And another viewer emails: “By the way, both viewers accepted John King’s apology.” Which is big of ’em, since they were both right-leaning bloggers looking for something to snark about.