Over winter vacation I was enjoying my break, taking it easy and keeping up with the news. I came across the most embarrassing headline in The New York Times I have ever had the displeasure of reading — "Flash! President Bush says he reads papers."

I imagined people picking up their papers and browsing through the headlines here in America where they may be accustomed to this, but the thought of citizens in foreign countries reading this as one of America's top stories made my heart sink.

It almost seems satirical, like something Jon Stewart would put up on television for the audience to laugh at as part of a segment. Meanwhile, it is an unfortunate and apparently newsworthy fact that our President reads the newspaper.

In the past, the President has told us that he doesn't read newspapers, and he has also told us he doesn't pay attention to public polls. This gives me the feeling — and seems to imply — that he doesn't pay much attention to what anybody thinks but himself and his friends. If we are to follow this train of thought, this means the opinions of the people he's representing in his role as President can just stay conveniently tucked away in those newspapers and polls.

In a change of heart, however, the President mentioned during his final press conference of 2006 that he read something in the paper. He was asked how he felt about Vice President Dick Cheney testifying in the Plame CIA leak case and replied by saying, "I read it in the newspaper today, and it's an interesting piece of news." It's good to know that the President was aware of this, but it's worrisome that he apparently learned about it browsing through the newspaper. What's more worrisome is that newspapers found this important. Isn't it amazing that something many Americans do on a daily basis — like read the news — is actually a noteworthy news event for Bush?

The fact that Bush reads the paper isn't much of a surprise to me. It may come as a surprise to him to find out just how notorious he is for saying one thing and then contradicting it with another if he glanced at the papers now and then.

Bush has constantly said children need to be raised by a mother and a father, which is part of his push for banning gay couples from obtaining a marriage license. Now that Cheney's daughter Mary — a lesbian — is pregnant, Bush is in the news stating that Mary will make a fine mother. This is totally in contrast to the fact that during re-election season, he was constantly spouting that children need heterosexual married parents.

So what are Bush's contradictions all about? Did he realize a president who doesn't read the paper is ridiculous, so he decided to read? Or does he still not read? Maybe he always had, but his advisors suggested that since the majority of Americans don't read the paper, he should say he doesn't either. Even his advisers are unclear on the mystery of his newspaper readership. The President's own press secretary, Tony Snow, stated in an interview that he was certain the President read newspapers, but was not sure which ones.

Bush seems to have made it impossible to know if he has made a career out of lying to us and telling us what we think we want to hear. Whatever happened to the days of Reagan going on television and telling us the hard truth even if it made him look bad? Our president will just spin anything he's given so that we get so confused it doesn't matter anymore.

Since we can't count on Bush to tell us the truth, or even be informed — since he claims he doesn't read — let's make sure we are informed. Numbers from various sources suggest about half of Americans read newspapers, and that number is falling. We can hope people are reading online, but that's no guarantee.

If you pick up a paper, or visit an online news source, know that you're probably doing more than the President says he does, if you do more than just browse headlines. To those of you who grab The Daily and turn to the Sudoku or crossword puzzles, or those who chat on AIM during lectures, the rest of us notice you. Take a few minutes out of your busy Sudoku day to browse the front page and the news Web sites.

Please keep yourself informed. Seeing as how our President just picked up this new habit, maybe you should give it a try, too. That way, when a head of state says he saw something in the paper, it won't make national news and embarrass the rest of us worldwide.

Reach columnist Hunter Kincaid at hunterkincaid@thedaily.washington.edu.