Al Haig dies, New York Times exhales

Holding one's breath for nearly 30 years is a feat that can be managed only by esteemed publications like the New York Times. With today's front-page obituary of Alexander Haig, the Times has finally exhaled.

If you read the obit, it's clear by paragraph 2 what I mean. In that paragraph, Tim Weiner notes that "Lyn Nofziger once said, that 'the third paragraph of his obit' would detail his conduct in the hours after President Reagan was shot, on March 30, 1981." Note well, the third paragraph.

OK, on to paragraph 3 of the Times obit:

That day, Secretary of State Haig wrongly declared himself the acting president. “The helm is right here,” he told members of the Reagan cabinet in the White House Situation Room, “and that means right in this chair for now, constitutionally, until the vice president gets here.” His words were taped by Richard V. Allen, then the national security adviser.

Phooooooo. (Exhale.)

Well, that little joke was worth waiting almost three decades for, wasn't it?