These aren't minor gaffes, nor are they merely the woolly-headed pronouncements of the Sunday morning squawkers.
Reporters seem to realize they have much to be modest about.
The loudest noise you hear may be the credibility of the media, already at a record low, crashing through the floor. It is death by a thousand flubs, which collectively feed the public's perception that politics is little more than public sport, a crapshoot organized by crafty schemers and reported by annoying fools. Journalists are routinely spanked for emphasizing the horse race at the expense of the issues. Lately, we're having a hard time getting the horse race right. Some missteps are to be expected, even forgiven.