Among the most prestigious newspapers and news magazines, a feverish competition broke out to see which of these mighty organs of communication could offer the most comprehensive possible account of the current crisis.

The New York Times provided readers with a twenty-four-page insert, entitled "American Dilemma," featuring short essays by seventy-five prominent writers, intellectuals, politicians, and performance artists, from every conceivable angle ("Founding Fathers' Flaws -- A Latino Perspective"). The Washington Post provided a breakdown of the potential votes of every member of the House and Senate should the contests for president and vice president be thrown into the Congress ("Outcome Uncertain, Experts Agree"). The Wall Street Journal published the longest editorial in its history, asserting that the crisis was rooted in the moral sewer of the 1960s, and the tyrannously high marginal income-tax rates. And the Los Angeles Times on Sunday published a 125,000-word account of the crisis -- a story that began on page 1, then jumped to pages 12, 13, 16, 22, 24, 26, 37, 39, 44, 45, 51, and 55-59. One irate reader responded by calling the paper's "Readerline" and reciting the entire article into the paper's voice-mail system, disabling it for six hours.

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