A clue in a recent crossword: “Prize won by Roosevelt, Wilson, Carter, Obama.” Answer: Nobel. But it runs deeper. What have the four presidents in common? Liberals. Conservatives claim liberals give prizes to each other. Reagan, Pope John Paul II and Margaret Thatcher oversaw the fall of the Berlin Wall. What do they have in common? Conservatives. Gorbachev received the Nobel in 1990. The Nobelists didn’t miss it entirely.
The Columbian features liberal columnists Leonard Pitts, Dana Milbank, and Eugene Robinson and a sprinkle of conservatives as their version of balance. Bill O’Reilly is the No. 1 analyst in the country but has not received a Pulitzer nor been published here.
Newspapers might consider educating us instead of printing today’s version of the three Ds: dysfunction, destruction and death. O’Reilly features a word-for-the-day, which some teachers are using in classrooms. Would teachers use a copy of the Constitution or a biography of presidents if published?
The smaller Columbian arrived last week. The Internet isn’t entirely to blame for the demise of the printed word; publishers have contributed. Liberals are quite free to be liberals. All I ask is a level playing field with something worth reading, for which a Pulitzer certainly awaits.
