Another Marie of Roumania moment by Roger Kimball

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In the Aeneid, the Roman poet Virgil sang of "arms and a man" (Arma virumque cano). Month in and month out, The New Criterion expounds with great clarity and wit on the art, culture, and political controversies of our times. With postings of reviews, essays, links, recs, and news, Armavirumque seeks to continue this mission in accordance with the timetable of the digital age.

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Nov 23, 2005 07:49 AM

Another Marie of Roumania moment

by Roger Kimball

You know the Dorothy Parker ditty:

Oh, life is a glorious cycle of song,
A medley of extemporanea;
And love is a thing that can never go wrong;
And I am Marie of Roumania.

Remember how CNN flashed a big X through the image of Vice-President Cheney a few days ago when he was giving a speech?

The . . . what was it? Mishap? Sabotage? Honest mistake? Whatever, it was, as far was we know it was first reported on the Drudge Report. Quoth the White House: "Is someone in Atlanta trying to tell us something?" Fortunately, CNN, being a leader in responsible television journalism, got right to the bottom of things:

"IT WAS A COMPUTER BUG"
Oh, life is a glorious cycle of song . . .
"IT IS NOT SOMETHING WE CAN RE-CREATE TO SHOW YOU HOW IT HAPPENED"
A medley of extemporanea; . . .
"IT INVOLVED A SWITCHER, SOMETHING WE CALL A SWITCHER. IT’S A MACHINE THAT WE USE TO SWITCH BETWEEN VISUAL ELEMENTS."
And love is a thing that can never go wrong; . . .
"UPON SEEING THIS UNFORTUNATE BUT VERY BRIEF GRAPHIC, CNN SENIOR MANAGEMENT IMMEDIATELY INVESTIGATED. WE CONCLUDED THIS WAS A TECHNICAL MALFUNCTION NOT AN ISSUE OF OPERATOR ERROR."
And I am Marie of Roumania.

In other words (a picture being worth a thousand):