[boop]

Yeah I finally "got" it, at the end. But when I saw the author was John Di Leo, I was stunned by the first paragraph or two.

That didn't sound like the John Di Leo I've read and enjoyed.

Good article in the end, but I think you got too clever by half.

[jfd1776]

Aw shucks. Thanks, friends!

I was just concerned that, as you said... perhaps I got “too clever” for myself....

Ah well.

In journalism school, the idea is drilled into you that you must use the pyramid style, and always assume that the reader won’t read the next line.

Then when you start writing columns, you throw out that rule, figuring that people will read the whole thing, so be clever, be interesting, be thorough, etc. and sometimes I go too far with it, I suppose.

Thanks, patriots!