We couldn’t resist this window into the mindset of several hundred newspaper columnists, who, after all, have some hand in what political commentary readers get.
The National Society of Newspaper Columnists annually awards its Sitting Duck Award, which usually goes to a public figure who has made a bigger fool of himself than even other actors on the national stage. Last year’s winner was Martha Stewart, the disgraced domestic doyenne. But this year, what with an election brewing, and an abundance of off-the-wall commentary on same, the columnists had lots of fools to pick from, among both pols and pundits. This week, in conjunction with their annual convention in New Orleans, they picked two winners: Donald Rumsfeld and Rush Limbaugh.
Rumsfeld was cited for his ability to “duck questions with nonsensical answers.” For example, Rumsfeld once said: “As we know, there are known knowns. There are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns. That is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns, the ones we don’t know we don’t know.”
Runner-up Limbaugh, the conservative radio personality, was honored for ranting and railing against drug users — while being one himself.
Our condolences to Ms. Stewart, who attracted only one vote this year. But the competition was a lot tougher this time, Martha.
–Steve Lovelady
