Noise, Noise, Noise

Every day during my plebe year at the Naval Academy, my classmates and I were required to read two front-page articles, a sports article, and any Navy-related articles in that day’s news. By the time we sat down for lunch, we had better be prepared to talk about any one of them for at least five minutes. Early on, we learned that Navy-related really meant military-related, and if your Navy-related article was also a front-page article, you didn’t get a twofer; you had to find another front-page article. We also learned to subscribe to different newspapers and share our Navy-related articles. Missing one printed in the Baltimore Sun because you subscribed to The Washington Post was no excuse.

We had no internet. We had no cable news. And yet, I have never been more informed than I was back then. Following the same front-page story for as long as possible provided depth of knowledge and made it easier to assimilate a new article by lunch time. If that story fell off the front page of the Post, it might still be up front in the New York Times or Wall Street Journal with a different writer and perhaps a different emphasis.

I learned to efficiently pull information from an article, get all of the names into memory, and hang it all on a mental template so I could spit it out later. I also learned to love newspapers, and The Washington Post was my favorite. Sunday morning with a cup of coffee and The Washington Post was one of life’s small pleasures.

I’ve had a digital subscription for a while, and I hung on even after the “no endorsement” debacle, but it doesn’t look like the ship is going to right itself. Good journalists are fleeing, and I’m sad. Just like a billionaire to destroy one of life’s small pleasures. Thanks, Bezos.

So I will keep hoping for a newspaper renaissance and look for sources that sound more like Jack Smith than like the loudmouthed “Truther” above.

I expect to have something to say after this first day of Pete Hegseth’s confirmation hearing, but I will leave you with three excerpts from the Special Counsel’s Report:

You won’t hear, “I don’t take responsibility at all,” from Jack Smith.

While I relied greatly on the counsel, judgment, and advice of our team, I want it to be clear that the ultimate decision to bring charges against Mr. Trump was mine. It is a decision I stand behind fully. To have done otherwise on the facts developed during our work would have been to shirk my duties as a prosecutor and a public servant. After nearly 30 years of public service, that is a choice I could not abide.

Also, he has heard the defendant and found him lacking.

And to all who know me well, the claim from Mr. Trump that my decisions as a prosecutor were influenced or directed by the Biden administration or other political actors is, in a word, laughable.

And what a patriot and a true public servant sounds like.

I thank you for the trust you placed in me and my team and for affording us the independence necessary to conduct our work. Public service is a privilege, and we deeply appreciate the opportunity to serve our Nation in seeking to uphold the rule of law.

Thank you, Mr. Smith and team, for sticking with it through all the noise, all the attacks on your character, and all the threats. Your professionalism is the strong, clear note cutting through this noisy amateur hour, and we hear you.