The Full "What"?

By Baxter

If we cats hear the expression "the full Ginsburg" one more time, we're going to scream. Have you ever heard a cat scream? It isn't pretty.

Which means the political pundits in Washington better be reaching for the ear plugs. Over and over, from Politico to Howard Kurtz to everyone in between, we kept reading about President Obama's full you-know-what — i.e., appearing on five talk shows over the course of a single Sunday.

You know what, guys? You need to come up with a more original metaphor. William H. Ginsburg (hey, all you young people, guess who he was) appeared on every Sunday talk show more than 10 years ago. And while he has faded from view, there remain other Ginsburgs in the world — namely, a sitting Supreme Court justice. We hesitate to think what "the full Ginsburg" might mean if it applied to our Ruthie.

In short, the expression is old, it's tired, and it doesn't work any more. But you inside-the-Beltway bubbleheads just seem to write for each other these days, not us. Oh, and as your editor might tell you (if, indeed, you have an editor): You need to stop being so goddamn lazy.