The press is a shadow of itself, we agree on that. It's a dying business. Maybe you don't know this but that was the business I wanted to go into. I was originally a journalism major at the most elite J school in the country. I wonder how many of my classmates are still employed.

The other day I got a smile. My younger daughter, the brain in the family, got a reading list for her AP English comp class this coming year. One of the books she is supposed to read this summer is a collection of Mike Royko's columns. The best column I have ever read, even better than Dan Barry:

http://www.suntimes.com/news/royko/1401987,mike-royko-november-farewell-1979.stng

>No I don't. I go into detail hoping folks with a brain, like you, get intrigued enough to look into the intricates and see what is happening or at least form an informed contrary opinion. It takes an effort these days, Mike, to get through the lazy and biased journalism that is the press. I don't expect agreement with me but I'd like to see a similar stoic assessment of research.
>
>>You don't hold it back, do you?
>>
>>Being just a dumb SOB, I will keep it for another time.
>>
>>>Mike, I love you, but you are one dumb SOB.
>>>
>>>Want to talk about wiping your a** with the Constitution? WTF do you think is happening now with Obama naming czars left and right and even a liberal Congress starting to get uneasy with his naked power grabs?
>>>
>>>I suppose I shouldn't entirely blame you since the media is "the new Pravda" with this guy, but look at what happened in Russia the other day. Obama unilaterally decided to set terms for an agreement to take place after the expiration of the START treaty. When some reporter actually questioned Obama's ability to do that - seeing as how the CONSTITUTION dictates that treaties are made by the Senate - the trite answer was that this issue was too much of a crisis and too important to allow a silly thing like Constitutional procedure to intervene,
>>>
>>>Democrats and liberals whined about Halliburton during Bush's terms but the carte blanche checks to Obama's favorite corps like GE and Goldman-Sachs exceed it and ... who's looking into it? Who's complaining?
>>>
>>>The Waxman cap-and-trade bill. Did you feel good about that? Did you actually read it? I did. With a calculator.. Not only does it do nothing to curb greenhouse gasses (a debate for a different day) as was the driving rationale, but it gives the Feds control over the power grids and industry to an unprecedented degree. Pelosi claimed during the vote in the House that it meant, quote, "jobs, jobbs, jobs!". Heh. Anyone with a 9th grader grasp of economics would know that can't be the case when you are burdening industry, And it will hit the average family in the pocketbook...how much varies according to analysis. Could be as low at $100 per family per year -or as much as $4000. Whatever; the point is that the cretins in DC KNEW this and masked the power grab in BS platitudes that you are going to pay for.
>>>
>>>Keep sleeping Mike. Dude,,,,Trust no one.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>>We respectfully disagree. He is already repairing our damaged relations around the world.
>>>>>
>>>>>In your humble opinion, he is repairing our damaged relations. IMHO, he is turning us into sitting ducks for our enemies and it will be innocent civilians who pay the price for his naiveté and inexperience.
>>>>>
>>>>>Still in Ireland? I am envious.
>>>>>
>>>>>In England now <s>...
>>>>
>>>>I don't feel like a sitting duck at all. Our defenses are up, way up. We remain defended by strong men who will do what needs to be done by night, or however Charles puts it.
>>>>
>>>>There is just a middle ground between being too soft and wiping your a** with the Constitution and international accords. We should not be the joker in the pack. It's beneath the principles we were founded on.
>>>>
>>>>Say hello to England for me. It's dreary and old, in short everything America strives not to be, but I loved my time there. Several times, most memorably the first. I was 23 and something of a hotshot at the company I worked for, based in Dallas. One morning the boss called and said you need to get to London pronto. I said I don't have a passport. He said it's on its way. (He was friends with Senator Percy). He said you're a lucky young man, they are the top grocery chain in England. I was to report to Sainsbury's "head office" near Blackfriars Bridge. I did, and he was right. I stayed at a comfortable old hotel that whole summer. I was within walking distance of work -- when I crossed the Strand I knew I was getting close -- as well as Charles Dickens's birthplace. It's really something to be able to walk around and see St. Paul's and Big Ben and Parliament.