It really was there... here's links to some screenshots from drudgereport archives:
http://www.drudgereportarchives.com/data/2007/01/11/20070111_215456.htm
http://www.drudgereportarchives.com/data/2007/01/11/20070111_220902.htm
Those pages load even slower than Drudge Report. In fact, it won't finish loading at all. ...and yes, I have broadband.
...and it finally loaded.
Complaining about it made the difference.