Listening to the news while feeling curmudgeonly

Look, I'm as happy as anyone else about Betancourt and the other freed hostages. I'm just saying that NPR made it sound as though the crux of the cunning plan was that the rescuers wore Che t-shirts. And I'm thinking: this took them six years to come up with?

I also cringe at NPR's frequently slipping standards.

Compare:

Susan Stamberg (or whomever): "And was this quite a blow to the FARC, Alex?"
Alex Chadwick (or whomever): "Quite, Susan."

With:

Simpsons episode: Funeral for a Fiend (2007)

Testifying psychiatrist: "Robert was a peaceful boy, sickly and weak from a congenital heart defect. But then that Simpson boy started tormenting him, and he crossed over into dementia!"

Sideshow Bob (defending himself): "And to what degree was this dementia blown?"

Psychiatrist: "Full!" [Jury gasps.]

It's a short skip down the garden path; I'm just sayin'.