PiPress Column will appear Monday 5/16

Because of possible legislative action on the omnibus tax bill next week, my Pioneer Press column will run on Monday rather than Wednesday. It is based on a tip I received late Thursday afternoon, which is why I missed the weekly undisclosed location meeting of the right-wing noise machine. (Someone please fax me the Karl Rove talking points for the week.)

In seriousness, however, I want to give some mighty kudos to Art Coulson, Opinion Page editor at the Pioneer Press. Not only did he extend his deadline for Monday’s page so my column could run in a timely manner given the potential for legislative action on the omnibus bill, but he did a really outstanding job of working with me to ensure that the wording of the column was accurate, made the points that I wanted to make, but didn’t extend beyond the verifiable facts at hand.

Indeed, this is a case where having a second set of eyes and a professional journalism background was not just helpful, but essential to making a good column a better and unassailable column.

That said. I feel good about Monday’s column and my chances of graduating from an "also ran" to a full-fledged “Wingnut of the Week.”

Reader Response: In Praise of the Wingnut

The "wingnut" is an admirable piece of design, perfectly suited to multiple purposes.

The "numbnut" is characterologically Nick Colemanesque.