Credit Due
In her August 8th report on a rowdy town hall meeting hosted by U.S.
Rep. Steve Cohen, Commercial Appeal reporter Linda Moore got one
thing dead wrong. After mentioning a sign waved by an opponent of
health-care reform reading “Don’t tell my gigi how to die,” Moore
stated that the sign addressed allegations that the bill will allow
senior citizens to be euthanized. This is something “supporters” of
health-care reform “strongly deny,” Moore wrote. But, here’s the thing.
Congress wanting to off grandma is a fact to be checked rather than an
opinion to be debated. Common sense dictates that representatives have
to be re-elected and may wish to avoid questions like, “Why do you want
to send Big Mama to heaven?” When all else fails, one can always check
the actual legislation. After being notified by various commenters that
forced euthinasion of a beloved family member is a contentious, highly
emotional concept standing in the way of useful debate, Moore changed
her copy to note that the nonpartisan factcheck.org says all rumors suggesting
that Democrats want to kill geezers are false. Kudos to Moore for
stopping the silliness. Eventually.
Tricky
Writers for examiner.com don’t
get paid by the story, by the word, or by their level of expertise on a
given subject. They are paid by the click, and that’s why your Pesky
Fly was suspicious when he saw an article headlined “How to Make
Yourself Feel Good Instantly in Memphis” by “Memphis Life Coaching
Examiner” J. Spicer. Sadly, all initial instincts were correct. Two of
the Examiner’s tips — “Ride your bike through Germantown” and
“Take a drive through the country” — paradoxically require
leaving Memphis in order to instantly feel good in Memphis, suggesting
that our life coach might benefit from visiting a logic coach. And a
clear understanding of the words “in” and “instantly.”
