An article that postulates George W. Bush as non-existent has gotten me thinking. Let's look at three things that happened on TV in 2004.

1. On January 19, following a third-place finish in the Iowa caucuses, Howard Dean finishes a speech to cheering supporters by energetically listing off the states whose primaries and caucuses were soon to come. He closes with a loud "Yeah!" The speech is broadcast live on the cable news networks.

2. On February 1, a variety of pop music stars, including Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake, perform at the halftime show of Super Bowl XXXVIII. At the end of their performance, Timberlake rips off a piece of Jackson's bodice, momentarily exposing her right nipple. The nipple is broadcast live on CBS.

3. On April 13, George W. Bush holds his eleventh solo press conference since becoming President. Toward the end of the questioning, he is asked, "After 9-11, what would your biggest mistake be, would you say, and what lessons have learned from it?" Following 30 seconds of near silence, he responds, "I wish you'd have given me this written question ahead of time so I could plan for it. John, I'm sure historians will look back and say, gosh, he could've done it better this way or that way. You know, I just -- I'm sure something will pop into my head here in the midst of this press conference, with all the pressure of trying to come up with answer, but it hadn't yet." The press conference is carried live on the broadcast and cable news networks.

While the first and third items have a common element in politicians, the first and second have a more pressing common element in that they were both replayed ad infinitum by all television news outlets. Have you seen a clip of Bush confoundedly biting his lip since April 14?