We are shocked, totally shocked: The Project for Excellence in Journalism and Harvard's Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy have found that the media are more sympathetic to Democrats and more hostile to the GOP in covering the current presidential race. The morning chat shows are the worst offenders with newspapers not only favoring Democrats but also giving major props to Hillary and Barack while going negative on Republican contenders. So much for balance. Before Fox News came along, most of these folks got away with it as the norm, too.

Carl Bernstein, the Watergate reporter, tells college prep students that celebrity and lifestyle coverage have eclipsed more important news reporting on issues like the Iraq war and politics. He said America's "idiot culture" is at least partly to blame for lack of understanding. "The problems we have in news and journalism are about us not doing our job well enough," Mr. Bernstein said in published reports. "The ideal of providing the best available version of the truth is being affected by the dominance of a journalistic culture that has less and less to do with reality and context ... You can't separate the appetites and demands of the people themselves and what they are given. The blame simply can't all be put at the feet of those who present news."

Speaking of celebrities -- we are, we suppose, one of Carl's "idiots" -- Tom Cruise's little wife, actress Katie Holmes, ran the New York Marathon. Quite a feat. Major snaps for that. We could run no further than the upstairs and downstairs of Neiman Marcus. Perhaps we are also good for a couple laps of the cosmetics counter, too. But 26 miles. Yikes, that would be rough.

We'd be lying if we didn't have a soft spot for those kooky people out there who have a fondness for lawn ornaments. America is a decorative spectacle in some areas, we have observed. In Oregon, thanks to some pranksters, 75 gnomes showed up on one family's lawn. Impressive. We have to say we do like the animal lawn figures best, tho. Deers are cool, but gnomes are ... scary.

So J-Lo is having twins. That means like six or seven nannies, right? We can't wait to hear them dish.

We could not be more emphatic in our disdain for the mushroom sleeves gimmick that seems to have infected retail EVERYWHERE. What is up with that and who could it flatter? AS IF.

Brian Williams, the NBC news dude, was quite funny on Saturday Night Live this past weekend. He rolled with the skits like a cast member. Mr. Obama, who got a "Live from New York," moment, also did his inner-thespian proud. Certainly, the SNL crowd is his base and then some, but we wonder if those people will even vote.

We hate to admit it but we like the new "couple" on Desperate Housewives -- their cattiness offsets the chicks, and we also are loving Calista Flockhart, Sally Field and Rob Lowe on drama show that follows. If only a presidential candidate looked like him. Triple sigh.

-- Andrea Billups, The Washington Times