Then I Wrote, Than You Read

It is nearly impossible for me not to do political commentary on political issues in the news, especially when they are ridiculous, a waste of time, or a waste of money. Let’s begin with waste of money—which if often ridiculous as well. (Sometimes in politics, as in life, all these things overlap.) Why in the world is John Edwards on trial? I was never an Edwards fan, although my daughter thought he would make quite a cute President. OK he spent campaign money, cheated on his dying wife, and asked his staff to cover for him. (The staff did not refuse to go along with it until they all got caught.) The man has billions of dollars and bad taste in mistresses. Surely he could have paid back that which was illegal, and simply faded away like some other infamous slime balls we have elected to office (or bankers who we forgot to indict.) It’s hard for me to believe that the people who brought him to trial a.) don’t have some kind of a vendetta, b.) are happy to play gotcha with the rich and successful, businessman/Senator. c.) Have never asked a staffer to do something to protect their good name. d.) In this economic depression, don’t have anything better to do with their time and government money. Moving on to a waste of time. Nevermind, let’s move right to the ridiculous – that’s so much more fun. Lindsay Lohan was at the Washington Correspondents dinner (why?), and Santorum asked her to take a picture of him with Greta Van Sustren? Is that almost as ridiculous as invitations to a White House Political dinners being offered to the cast of “Glee?” (And I am crazy about the cast of Glee). When I fell off my dinosaur and attended these dinners, you mingled with the Washington VIP’s, who would be considered important sources for the big deal correspondents,. But such is the state of the media. Since newspapers are irrelevant/dying (unless they are online) and young people believe Jon Stewart is giving them the real news, there is nothing you can’t Google, and that Wikapedia is actually a credible source, what would you expect. There is no news anymore. And I mean that in the nicest possible way. It’s all entertainment. That’s why an interview with the Secretary of State will get two minutes, but a just-out-of-rehab movie star will get five. Which came first? Did serious news go away because it is not as profitable as entertainment? Or is entertainment preferable to what people consider bad news – war, the economy, human rights, etc. It is not a question I can answer but I liked it better when the entertainment at the dinner entertained, rather than sat with the guests. And speaking of ridiculous,, I still get confused about the use of “then” and “than.” Although most won’t admit it, I am not the only one –and I taught English, when we were still diagramming sentences (look it up on Google). So here goes: ‘Than’ is a conjunction used in comparisons.: Tom is smarter than Bill. ‘Then’ has numerous meanings: Often with "if") If you want to go, then you'll have to finish your homework. Simply, than is used only in comparisons, so if you're comparing something use than. If not, then you have to use then. We’re just sayin’ then…. Iris