It is ironic that, one day after Lou Brancaccio lamented the apparent death spiral of print journalism in his Aug. 5 “Press Talk” column, “A need to build community,” Greg Jayne attempts to accelerate the process with yet another example of his belief that puerile, elementary school prose is of interest to the few of us continuing to subscribe (“Only best columnists spout off to Scouts, fire the best,” Aug. 6, The Columbian).
Two quotes from Jayne’s writing say all that needs to be said on his current writing. He says, ” … I am a deranged, sophomoric columnist.” His qualifiers at the beginning and end of the quote are redundant. Later, he says, ” … it won’t matter that I am an inept charlatan. After all, I’m only a columnist.” He should take his own observations to heart and turn over column writing to someone capable of original thought.
It is worth pointing out that he is maladroitly attempting to lampoon a narcissistic egotist. The truth of the matter is that those seem to be necessary, if not sufficient, requirements for the job he is lampooning, if the two most recent incumbents are representative.
