The Worst Since

Americans (very much including American journalists) like superlatives.

They have a way of reaching for the sort of comparison that Mark Twain called a "stretcher." The most extreme current stretchers: U.S. involvement in Angola's civil strife is the country's gravest foreign intervention since Viet Nam (which, considering the difference in magnitude in the two situations, is misleading); the current recession is the worst since the Great Depression (which takes no account of how much worse the Depression was or of economic cushions built in since the 1930s).

Journalists do not save their stretchers for serious subjects but apply them everywhere -- the best movie since . . .

the worst snowstorm since . . . and so on. Only last week, Washington Post Columnist George Will described Ronald Reagan as "arguably the most gifted campaigner since Theodore Roosevelt" -- which, arguably, is the most outlandish judgment since . . . stretcher, anyone?

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.