re: When is a rail not a rail?
The term "spiked" means a viable story is set aside or shelved, for whatever reason, good, bad, or political. Based on one of those old fashioned wooden bases with a metal spike on it that they used to jam papers onto.
The Monica story was spiked until Drudge dragged them into it kicking and screaming. Good news out of Iraq is often spiked, although the more common technique is to stick the good news as an afterthought to a critical headline story.
The Kerry story was spiked, and in my opinion, properly so. Yet I stand by my statement that had that exact story been about Bush, it would still be in the headlines.