Drudge stretched a little thin

'The influential U.S. website, The Drudge Report, which described him as 'thin as a rail', quoted an insider who said the president was working so hard that 'yes he does occasionally skip meals'. Under the headline 'Barack n Bones', the report claimed that the president's exercise regime - including basketball games - is behind the 'dramatic weight loss'. The unnamed 'insider' quoted by the report insisted that Mr Obama was working 'non-stop' - and that he was not chain-smoking' — The Daily Mail

Completing the circle, Drudge then linked to the Mail, to back up his original story, which had thus gone from Washington to London and back, picking up top-spin along the way, on the evidence of — what, exactly? What were the hard facts that had gave rise to this feverish session of transatlantic Chinese whispers? It was a photograph showing Obama in baggy clothes. And uh, that was it. Because that's always the best way, isn't it, to determine whether someone has lost weight or not: a long-distance telephoto view, from about 20 yards, of someone you usually see in suits and tie wearing abnormally baggy clothes.