How I Know the War is Really Over:

As I sit here at 12:54am on Friday, April 18, 2003, I know that the war is finally over because for the first time in a month, all three of the cable news networks (CNN, FOX, and MSNBC) are running taped programs rather than being live. On CNN it's a rerun of the 9pm "Larry King Live." MSNBC's running last night's Olbermann. And on Fox, there's no Shepard Smith, no Rick Leventhal live from Baghdad-- just Brit Hume, the Beltway Boys, and broad afternoon daylight outside their Washington D.C. window.

I don't miss the war at all; thank God it's over. But I do miss having a live body to watch in the wee hours. I didn't realize how fond I had grown of the Smith/Leventhal sideshow.