Are All Brit Papers Tabloids?

You begin to wonder when you run up on pieces like this. It tells readers that Comcast is ready to go to "battle" in its bid for Disney. The hook? That Comcast has hired former Pentagon flack Torie Clarke as a government affairs expert.

Clarke's skill set is described as "the public face for the Bush administration's wars in Afghanistan and Iraq for two years, Ms. Clarke developed a reputation for being unflappably 'on message' while dazzling reporters with her flamboyant sartorial sense."

Well, whatever, bub. But in addition to the fashion report, readers might also want to know that Clarke did a five-year turn as vice president of public affairs at the National Cable Television Association after she cycled out of a post in the Bush I team.

No harm done in any of this and Clarke can certainly take care of herself. Just seems like "sexing up" simple facts is a British pathology.