Why We Need Reporters

For perspective. Honesty. Irony. Memory. Sheer joy in the paradoxes of politics. For instance, the AP's Tom Raum and Jim Kuhnhenn, reporting on the Obama administration's overdue but welcome optimism offensive:

On Friday, the president called on Americans to keep "focused on all the fundamentally sound aspects of our economy." The phrase had a familiar ring. During the heat of the presidential campaign last September, Obama ridiculed rival John McCain when he declared, "The fundamentals of our economy are strong."

It's hard to avoid the impression that the President realized that as a barometer of the national mood, he was running three days behind the stock market.