You heard it here first.

That the blogosphere is often ahead of the mainstream media is becoming, if not routine, then at least a recognized aspect of literary life. Most famously there were the scores of tireless gnats buzzing around the attempt by Dan Rather and CBS to smear the President with self-evidently forged documents. Latterly, the MSM is beginning to catch up with respect to the funding scandal at Air America (stealing from poor kids to pay Al Franken $1,000,000 to repeat the same nonsense day after day), and is showing signs of realization that Cindy Sheehan is (or is becoming) something other than that which loyal Democrat editors might have hoped.

It is no surprise, then, to find a piece in yesterday's Washington Post titled "Trafficking in Politics: It's Bumper-to-Bumper." The story, by Rachel Manteuffel, observes:

Nearly 10 months after it supposedly ended, the bellicose 2004 election campaign rages on, in the streets. Bumper and window stickers on cars beseech you, even now, to vote for George W. Bush or John Kerry.

People on both sides aren't scratching off their stickers or covering them with new issues or slogans. And laziness doesn't seem to explain it; our bumpers are simply stuck in a moot debate.

It was duly noted that the Kerry side of the debate was somewhat negative:

To Ricki Kanter, 49, vice president of a D.C. nonprofit, "John Kerry" means a lot of things. "It's anti-president, antiwar, anti-Republican," she says. "It's a declaration against our existing president, for getting us into this war and not getting us out."

The article concludes:

Ricki Kanter sold her car that had a Kerry sticker on it. When driving her new car, she says, "I miss the fact that it's making a statement. I may yet put a John Kerry sticker up."

Interesting observations all, but some of this looked at least a tad familiar. "Familiar" in the sense that we were there first. "Familiar" in the sense of fantasizing that some Post assignment editor might have passed through Glib & Superficial three months ago, when we posted "Bumper Stickers."

From our vantage point in Upper Northwest Washington, D.C., far behind enemy lines, we noted the generally leftish, overwhelmingly Democrat nature of the Center of the Empire, and wrote:

In the days prior to the last general election, there were thus observed on our streets very few bumper stickers expressing support for the President, while there were a great number urging the election of the fellow running against him. Indeed, we make two additional observations. It is our sense that a greater than usual number of automobiles sported Democrat bumper stickers, and it is also our opinion that an enormous proportion of these failed to name their candidate, instead saying something like "Re-Defeat Bush," or the like.

Following an election, one would think normal practice called for prompt removal of bumper stickers, particularly those touting the defeated candidate. For how long would one wish to be reminded of defeat, and to publicly underline one's loser status? How depressing to whirr down the street in one's Prius defaced by obsolete failure. But not so.

It has been suggested that, as a matter of fact, there has been no reduction whatever in the number of Democrat bumper stickers in and around Washington. Further, it is boldly suggested that the number has actually increased since election day. It is posited that the final validating event for many Washingtonians was utter rejection of their political views by a majority of Americans.

We were skeptical. Aside from the mental health objections to such a mind-set, there are logistical difficulties. Where would such an unbalanced individual acquire a bumper sticker after the election? A few leftovers, perhaps, in the bottom drawer of a now-surplus steel desk in the corner of some now-repossessed campaign office. But we were again in error.

We closed with a link to a website offering Kerry stickers for sale -- well after the election.

Now if only we could get the Post to read our more serious political pieces . . . . .

Thanks to Short-timer.