PressEthic

There’s a story that has been gaining a lot of momentum. It involves one of the most powerful men in the world, and his written comments during an important meeting. The comments concern his plans to evacuate…

…his personal waste.

The blogs have been jumping over the >Bush bathroom note. Many think it’s funny just by virtue of having been caught on film. A few liberal bloggers enjoy the chance to poke more fun at their favorite target. Others suspect the photo may have been faked. Still more call attention to the story just to ask why so much attention has been drawn to the story.

Clearly, I am a member of this last camp.

I agree, it’s funny, and in the current world climate, we can all appreciate some well-timed, essentially harmless humor.

But is it news?

That’s a tough question to answer. Who decides what is news, after all? Is it the readers? They’ve certainly seemed to deem it so. Is it the press? They covered it, and moved on. Is it the government? Well, they didn’t manufacture this story, but they really can’t deny it, either. President Bush, for good or ill, is human, and comes fully equipped with a bladder.

But really, the story has no bearing on anything at all. The bathroom break (which he did get to take, by the way) did not affect the summit. It did not confirm a Supreme Court Justice, help the victims of Hurricane Katrina, or stop international terrorism.

It did make us laugh, and talk. It showed us a very human side of the President without exploiting fault or vulnerability (at least, none that the rest of us don’t share).

It happened, and people care, so that makes it news.

But is it ok if we stop talking about it?