I’ve been resisting the temptating to chronicle every example of the combined inanity of the Bush administration and certain US media outlets, but in the midst of the busy-ness of this week a cheap shot just couldn’t be resisted.

This headline appeared over the weekend in USA Today. I was really hoping for a follow-up the next day along the lines of “other leaders ask if invitation was lost in mail.”

It just seems to be one of the strangest headlines I can imagine coming four days before the start of a G8 summit that’s due to discuss climate change. The fact that such a call was reported straight says something—something bad, but not surprising—about at least one newspaper.