In all the brouhaha over Disney's "Path to 9/11" the ultimately punchline was that few watched it. Monday Night Football, on the other hand, is usually among the most watched shows of the week. Last night, in addition to seeing the Saints give hope to a region, they saw just how little has been done to repair the damage. In the end, more people likely saw the manifest failure of the Bush administration in New Orleans than saw the lies about Clinton two weeks ago.
As a Falcon's fan, last night was painful enough, but to see the pictures from New Orleans as it is today, it was incredibly depressing. At every opportunity, the ESPN crew showed the depressing reality of the Lower Ninth. True, they focused on the resilience of the Quarter and the Saints (who gave them a triumphalist game), but they constantly returned to the fact that nothing has been done for most of New Orleans.
I have no idea whether that message will sink in with those who haven't already concluded that Bush is "the worst president since Buchanan", but I would guess it goes some small steps towards balancing ABC's "Pathological Lies to 9/11". Disney must have forgotten to send the script to Kornheiser and Tirico.