New levels of deceit

These people lack any shred of integrity. What amazes me is that somehow I'm still surprised. (originally from atrios)

In light of the mounting evidence that your Administration has, on several occasions, paid members of the media to advocate in favor of Administration policies, I feel compelled to ask you to address a matter brought to my attention by the Niagara Falls Reporter (article attached), a local newspaper in my district, regarding James "JD" Guckert (AKA Jeff Gannon) of Talon News.

According to several credible reports, "Mr. Gannon" has been repeatedly credentialed as a member of the White House press corps by your office and has been regularly called upon in White House press briefings by your Press Secretary Scott McClellan, despite the fact evidence shows that "Mr. Gannon" is a Republican political operative, uses a false name, has phony or questionable journalistic credentials, is known for plagiarizing much of the "news" he reports, and according to several web reports, may have ties to the promotion of the prostitution of military personnel.
-snip-
And just this morning we have learned that "Mr. Gannon" has resigned his post at the, so called, Talon News amid growing concerns over his controversial background and falsified qualifications. In fact, it appears that "Mr. Gannon's" presence in the White House press corps was merely as a tool of propaganda for your Administration.

(emphasis mine)

Despite earlier grumpiness, I really have to say that all in all, today was not a bad day. Got the work done that needed to be done plus made food for the next few days, meditated, thought about Mark and Carrie, and then, prang! like magic there they were in my little online world. Because they're cool like that.

Had a weird high school flash-back moment tonight. I don't know, maybe I'm just feeling nostalgic. Maybe it was the old school Counting Crows on the radio on the drive home. But I had that feeling of simultaneously experiencing the happiest and saddest of times. Nothing particularly eventful happened tonight. But nothing particularly eventful happened during high school either. And yet I remember that weird simultaneity as being the overriding feeling of the entire three years. I'm sure it's just some part of growing up, but I wonder sometimes how I got through it. My grandmother has always described me as an "old soul." Sometimes I believe that and sometimes I don't. But something helped me hang on during those opposite-end-0f-spectrum years. Really, it makes sense how some kids lost control. And I can't put my finger on how I was somehow able to objectively see that this was just a phase...something that I would come out on the other side of...I'm not sure what I was holding onto...but it must have been something solid.