That was a very excellent reference

I'm linking to this column that appeared in Editor & Publisher for two reasons. One, it is a good take on the ostrich-like behavior of many of the Bushies, using New York Times columnists John Tierney and especially David Brooks as examples.

It begins:

David Brooks no doubt benefits from context. At The New York Times’ Op-Ed page his only reliably conservative brother is the hapless John Tierney, which often allows Brooks to appear reasoned, thoughtful, and moderate in comparison (except when he urges women to fulfill their destiny as babymakers). How could Brooks not come off well in that kind of company?

In Tierney’s latest example of addled thinking, this past Saturday, he called the leak of Valerie Plame’s CIA employment an “accident.” It might have been many things, but one thing it wasn’t: an “accident.”

My second, more self-indulgent reason is because I like the headline--Our Myth Brooks. For those of you who don't know, which I assume is most of you, this is a reference to Our Miss Brooks, a famous radio show in the '40s and '50s.

It starred Eve Arden (best known to our generation as the principal in the two Grease films) as a high school English teacher who was smart and funny. In some ways the character was more than half a century ahead of her time.

I'm an old time radio fan, as one or two of you know, and this show is a favorite. It was also on television, where I believe it was actually even more popular, but I haven't seen that version.