Straight talk

I once heard a joke that when the Vatican decides to ordain women, the encyclical will begin, "As the Vatican has always taught..." Such is the emphasis on appearing to be consistent among politicians and leaders that when they change their mind, they don't want to be seen to be changing their minds. If you listen to President Bush, it's as if the country has been in Iraq all along to "honor the sacrifice of the troops" and start a democracy, when we all remember some conversation about weapons of mass destruction a while back.

With that in mind, it's refreshing to read this from John Coghill about the apparently for-sure special session on Senior Care:

Coghill attributed other lawmakers’ change of heart to media attention and pressure from the senior group AARP.

“The AARP has made it a full-court press,” he said.

It would be tempting in this situation to say something like, "We always wanted to ensure we took care of seniors - and in fact we did by funding a variety of other programs - and we've now decided this needs to be taken care of before the fiscal year ends, completely independent of any outside pressure." But Coghill doesn't say that - he's upfront and honest that the coordinated campaign from Democrats and seniors has worked.

(How come the News-Miner keeps scooping the ADN on important political stories?)