The Day Facts Died

I'm late to the party on this one. Last week, the Chicago Tribune's Rex Huppke wrote a smashingly good op-ed entitled, "Facts, 360 B.C. – A.D. 2012." It is an obit for the long-suffering "fact." And it's gone viral. It is not the best op-ed ever written as some have claimed. But it is brilliant. Here's a sample:

"To the shock of most sentient beings, Facts died Wednesday, April 18, after a long battle for relevancy with the 24-hour news cycle, blogs and the Internet. Though few expected Facts to pull out of its years-long downward spiral, the official cause of death was from injuries suffered last week when Florida Republican Rep. Allen West steadfastly declared that as many as 81 of his fellow members of the U.S. House of Representatives are communists."

To paraphrase one clever writer: If you haven't read it, read it. If you’ve already read it, read it again. And weep.