Do you smell that?

I do believe it’s the sweet, sweet scent of WASHINGTON SEX SCANDAL mingled with the musky aroma of ATTEMPTED COVER-UP, which as I recall from the Clinton administration, the media just can’t get enough of once the blood is in the water. Even Fox was leading their broadcasts with it today. To wit:

Top House Republicans knew for months about e-mail between Representative Mark Foley and a former teenage page, but kept the matter secret.

Formerly respected, silvermaned statesman – check. Wide-eyed, underage page/intern – check. Politico’s own people pre-emptively condemning his actions to anyone who will thrust a microphone in their face – check. Yup, this one has all the makings of a SEX SCANDAL that’s gonna go the distance.

On a sidebar, here’s the groovy thing about Florida, the state the alleged sexual predator represented in Congress until yesterday: His name remains on the ballot for November’s election, and any votes he receives automatically pass onto whomever his hastily-arranged replacement is. Seems Florida just can’t get through an election cycle without hoodwinking the electorate in some way, shape or form. Way to go, Sonshine State! You make Texas look good.

Speaking of matters political, it was also good clean fun tonight when CNN and Fox ran dueling hour-long Rumsfeld bios at 8; CNN’s was called “Man of War,” (yes he certainly is) and Fox’s was called “Why He Fights.” You know, like the WWII-era series of propaganda films by Frank Capra? I didn’t watch either Rummy bio, but I caught promos for both, and as you can imagine, the tones were poles apart. CNN lauded him for the first couple weeks of the Iraq War – Shock! Awe! – before turning to examine the godawful mess he’s made of it in the years since; Fox made him out to be half Winston Churchill, half Superman, all tragically misunderstood. Hilarious! Definitely Fairly Unbalanced.

I’ll tell you Why He Fights – because Bush doesn’t have the stones to admit he’s made a mistake or the character to correct himself when he has. Did you know Rummy’s about to become the longest-serving SecDef in American history? Longer than the guy who won WWII and longer than the guy who lost Vietnam. Pretty sobering forecast, isn’t it?

Bring on the mid-terms!