Precisely because they're not concerned with reducing every event to facts and figures, and because they're not limited in length and description like policy briefs, they can explore events and people with a thoroughness that factual books and briefs can't.

FORBES: Freed Thinking

President Bush delivered his last State of the Union address to Congress Monday night, a speech dominated by his description of a policy shift that he said had brought success and the promise of victory in Iraq.

NPR: Fact-Checking the State of the Union

First, Congress controls the federal government's purse strings, including for diplomacy and the armed services, so foreign policy is in fact part of the job description.

ECONOMIST: Peter Galbraith��s smaller stage