ralpher:Maybe you should have objected when Slate did its Alberto Gonzales Deathwatch five years ago. Or Slate's Harriet Myers Deathwatch four years ago.
Good call. I had forgotten the Harriet Miers-o-Meter, although neither it nor the others referred to in the following paragraph were actually called "Deathwatch." I found the following in a Slate article here: <link>
"Slate has a long and varied history of whatever-o-meters. The Saddameter tracked the chances of a U.S. invasion of Iraq. The Clintometer gauged the likelihood of a Clinton removal over the Lewinsky scandal; and most recently, the tragically inaccurate Miers-o-Meter measured the likelihood of Harriet Miers' confirmation to the Supreme Court. On the day she stepped down, we three posited that her chance of confirmation to the Supreme Court was 60 percent. (We might add, just for context, that administration officials were just as adamant about her sticking with it as we were that day.)"
Here are the ones that have actually been called a "Deathwatch": Paul O'Neil <link> (The O'Neil Deathwatch was really just a recurring headline in Tim Noah's Chatterbox column); the Gonzo-meter <link> and Rumsfeld <link>.