By now you may have heard about this profile of Mayor Luke Ravenstahl from the Washington Post. It's exactly what you'd expect: It documents his rise to power, and some of his more notable gaffes. Then it cites Ravenstahl's tender years as proof that his support of Hillary Clinton is "an effective rejoinder to the idea that Sen. Barack Obama ... has a lock on young voters" in the upcoming presidential primary.

Well, if you say so, Washington Post. Most of the young voters I know think of Ravenstahl as the World's Youngest Living Good Old Boy. (That's when they think of him at all: You'd be amazed, Washington Post, how few young voters give a damn who a mayor endorses.) But I guess you know best, being the high-powered national journal that you are.

If I'm Ravenstahl, though, the line that worries me the most in this story was an attempted compliment:

"His youthful good looks have helped make him a sort of crossover celebrity -- the Britney Spears of Pittsburgh, his spokeswoman says."

Um, Britney Spears? The celeb whose self-destructive tendencies and bizarre public behavior have made her a laughingstock? The one whose fresh-faced youthful appeal quickly faded in the harsh glare of the spotlight? Is THAT the Britney Spears mayoral spokeswoman Alecia Sirk meant?

Is there something you're trying to tell us, Alecia? Our lines are open.