Ooops!

A continuing series about the perils of topical publishing.

From the catalog description for Jim Geraghty's Vote to Kill, due out in August, 2006, from Simon & Schuster

From a rising young star of conservative journalism comes a trenchant, spirited account of how September 11, 2001 forever changed American voters and why Republicans continue to dominate this country, despite the supposed sea change that was to follow Hurricane Katrina....

As Democrats continue to project an image of confusion and pacifism, more Americans trust the GOP to be ruthless in killing terrorists. From "security moms" to neo-Jacksonian bloggers, people across the country are confronting the post-9/11 era with white-knuckle anger and relentless determination. "Vote to Kill" captures this zeitgeist, showing why terrorism was the defining issue in 2002 and 2004, and will be in 2006 and 3008 and why Republicans have convinced Americans to vote as if their lives depended on it.

Oh, the American people have learned that lesson alright. But they were told "terrorists = Arabs."

And then came Dubai. And after that Samarra. And suddenly the US media is reporting the weekly death toll for Iraqis, too.

That's the problem with topical publishing. Timing is everything.

Geraghty is listed as currently working in Turkey for National Review. Maybe he needs to come back home and re-take the national pulse.