Journey to Nowhere

In a lot of places, folks won’t respond by trying to match your passive-aggressive cleverness with a tweet. They’ll knock you on your ass. [More]

Yeah, we know that about most of you guys, the shallowness, the narcissism, the effete smugness, and the provincial ignorance. But your "personal odyssey" reads more like a script for one of the more trivial and predictable Tom Hanks movies. All that's missing is the lip lock with Meg Ryan at the end as the music takes over, the camera moves up and away, and the credits start to scroll. 

You still, evidently, think it's all about you and your reactions to different environments and stimuli.

I found this comment from reader "JR48" to be the most true, insightful and worthwhile thing out of the whole four pages, reproduced here because I can't get the link to work correctly:

You still don't get it. The greatest hope of the average Joe for political journalists is not that they find their Kentucky, but that they remember the history of their profession.

Journalists were supposed to be part of the checks on tyrannical governance, to report the truth, not to be a part of the story. It was never about 'you' or 'I', it was about being a voice for the people. And someone who would be really good at that, would naturally end up being a hero. It's the place where journalism is a calling, not a stepping stone towards being part of the corrupt nature of the system. Where nests are feathered and the point is lost.

When or if you ever discover what you really were supposed to be doing in DC, then we can have a conversation. I applaud your attempts, but you've only just started your journey.

This is so much bigger than individual players, the politicians du jour or the political posturing of the day. This is about a fundamental tenant of how this country was supposed to work. Go to where the story is, follow it to the end of the road, tell the truth, and you could be a beacon of light of redemption for all that is oh so very wrong. You want to know what the people want? They want THAT and they can't get it. And it's absolutely the reason why they hate the media, despise politicians and despair at what their country has become.

[Via Dan Gifford]