Taking a shot in the dark, I guess the thinking goes like this: "If we feed them enough horseshit, breadcrumbs will be banquets."

This week in the TPM book club, Bill Wasik discusses his biopsy of the "nanostory", insignificant "subnews" that dominates news cycles and cyberspace for... as long as anyone wants to pore over it. His examples include Sarah Palin's bizarre "death panel" claims (somebody north of the Yukon, please put the Kafka on a higher shelf) and the Obama/Joker poster imbroglio.

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This August, as we continue to jostle along a potholed highway of economic recovery and watch real healthcare reform apparently recede as a bridge too far, we find our attention detoured with jam-packed anniversaries our media can't resist poring over. 

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