Wordsmith offers tips to government's scribes.
Although this is the inaugural edition of the new Capitol Weekly, you should know that the editors have already committed a Bustamante --- in other words, an exceptional public blunder. They asked me to write for them. I'll honor this foolhardy request, but first, let's clear away debris surrounding my "politics." This is probably necessary because I was an editor at California Journal for more than 22 years, and during that time, the nonpartisan magazine and its staff were accused, variously, of being either whacked-out lefties or blind reactionaries. The real record needs to be set straight.
The World Series of Poker is broadcast weekly on ESPN. Bravo runs a program about celebrities playing cards for money. The Travel Channel has set up shop in Las Vegas to highlight the betting action there. And then there's the California Channel, which has the rights to a high-stakes gambling program that puts the competition to shame.
In the 1972 film, "The Godfather," Vito Corleone meets with the heads of the Five Families in an effort to end a year-long feud. "How did things ever get so far?" he says. "I don't know. It was so -- unfortunate -- so unnecessary."
