In another sign of how political discourse has degenerated into spin and sound bite, the reigning narrative is that Obama’s trip to Iraq was a big success — and a problem for McCain — because Obama’s 16 month withdrawal timetable was vindicated by al- Maliki. Today’s Washington Post editorial notes that, in fact, neither al-Maliki nor Gen. Petraeus support Obama’s plan and other Iraqi leaders are strongly critical.

That’s what many of us thought we heard — but once a narrative has been set everyone seems to run with it, even if they know it’s not true. Do facts matter anymore?