The patient reader can find much to entertain and enlighten in theNew York Times, if one searches diligently. I came acrossthis pearl today, entitled "Editors’ Note."

"The cover photograph in The Times Magazine on Sunday renderedcolors incorrectly for the jacket, shirt and tie worn by Mark Warner,the former Virginia governor who is a possible candidate for thepresidency. The jacket was charcoal, not maroon; the shirt was lightblue, not pink; the tie was dark blue with stripes, not maroon."

The editors blamed this on the film. "The change escaped noticebecause of a misunderstanding by the editors." I wanted to read more.Did editors disagree on whether pink is blue? Or did Governor Warnerlook more presidential in a maroon jacket? The Times did notelaborate.

Turning to the hard news, I began looking for a story I had assumedwould be on page one–the record current accounts deficit of $804billion reported for 2005. The total is up 20 percent and is ominousnews. It describes America’s deepening financial dependency on foreigncreditors–China, Japan and others–thanks to trade deficits anddeindustrialization. People who got upset by the Dubai port deal wouldbe apoplectic if they understood the meaning.

Searching, searching, searching. I did finally find thestory on C8, the Real Estate page in the Times businesssection. It was buried under a feature, "Career Switchers Add New DepthTo Talent Pool in Real Estate." Actually, the trade numbers didn’teven get a headline, only a couple of paragraphs in story on Februaryretail sales. The Washington Post did worse–a short squib in "InternationalBriefing." The Wall Street Journal chose an upbeat approach. "Foreign investors’ appetite for US assets remained strong…"

What’s going on here? Why are the leading newspapers suppressing thisstory when arguably it is the most serious threat of all to America’sfuture? The bloggers who went to arms over Dubai ought to get on thecase and hammer the reporters and editors for explanations. Theguerillas will encounter the same elite opacity that surrounded theDubai issue. Why disturb ignorant readers with this complicatedsubject? It might arouse xenophobic reactions. Let’s make the worldlook pink instead of dark blue.