Those Were the Days

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Farewell Pep Talk for the Press

“It goes without saying that essential to [a democracy] is a free press. That is part of how this place, this country, this grand experiment of self-government has to work. It doesn’t work if we don’t have a well-informed citizenry, and you are the conduit through which they receive the information about what’s taking place in the halls of power.

“So America needs you and our democracy needs you. We need you to establish a baseline of facts and evidence that we can use as a starting point for the kind of reasoned and informed debates that ultimately lead to progress.

“And so my hope is that you will continue with the same tenacity that you showed us, to do the hard work of getting to the bottom of stories and getting them right and to push those of us in power to be the best version of ourselves and to push this country to be the best version of itself.”

—Barack Obama, 44th president, in the final press conference of his presidency, Jan. 18, 2017

(Thanks to alert WORDster Alexandra Halsey)

• Editorial Comment: Anyone else hear “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” faintly in the background?

PeezPix by Ted Pease

Mendon Peak, Cache Valley, Utah






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Ted Pease, Professor of Interesting Stuff, Trinidad, California. (Be)Friend The WORD

“Words are sacred. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones, in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.” —Tom Stoppard