SEVEN SECONDS

Joe Scarborough reveals the secret of successful cable news talk shows:

Asked if he had any advice for Mr. Colbert, who will also interview one guest each night, Mr. Scarborough passed on a nugget that he said had been given to him by an MSNBC executive.

"If you let someone talk for more than seven seconds on your show without interruption," he said, "then you are a failure."

So THAT'S why Republicans are so successful. They've mastered the art of the seven-second speech -- "9/11, terrorists, family values, evil liberal tax-and-spend."

OK, Democrats, let's develop our own: "Bush lied, we're not safer, exploding deficits, Republican incompetence, middle class burdens, American values, crony capitalism and corruption" or some such.