ON MONDAY, Ted Kennedy took to the floor of the United States Senate and made this statement: “Shamefully we now learn that Saddam’s torture chambers reopened under new management, U.S. management.” Kennedy, of course, is the alter ego of John Kerry, and is his principal backer and original sherpa to power in Washington. When Kerry’s campaign was foundering, Kennedy dispatched his own chief-of-staff, Mary Beth Cahill, to stabilize and reorganize it. Kennedy has spared no effort on Kerry’s behalf because Kerry is Kennedy’s last chance for power on the national stage.

Given Kennedy’s closeness to Kerry and his inevitable prominence in a Kerry administration, it was surprising that of the country’s major newspapers, only the New York Post quoted the senior senator’s descent into near-madness in Monday’s speech. Last week, Los Angeles Times editor John Carroll lectured the rest of the media on the dangers of pseudo-journalism , but what is pseudo-journalism if not the protection of a major American figure from himself?