Straight Talk Derailed

Pity the poor reporter who tries to mildly rebuke a less-than-truthful candidate. Peter Baker reports in the Washington Post that John McCain is not exactly accurate when he claims to have called for Rumsfeld's ouster long before the Secretary of Defense paddled off to the Eastern Shore (or a tiny hideaway in the Pentagon, depending on who you talk to). Baker notes: "The trick is that he never did, at least not publicly," and then concludes "McCain's enhanced version of his opposition to Rumsfeld has come as he begins to wrap up the Republican nomination and pivot toward the general election."

A copy editor simplified this to the much blunter "McCain Overstates His Criticisms."

I, for one, cannot wait to use Baker's version in workplace conversation: "Boss, I did not overstate our quarterly financial profits; I simply gave you the enhanced version."