SHEPARD

Here’s the best and fairest take I’ve yet read on the ABC News’ 20/20 piece last Friday night.

ANOTHER HATE CRIME: This time self-inflicted – kinda – by Yalies.

EMAIL OF THE DAY I: “Homer Simpson has the middle initial J — as do Marge, Maggie, Bart and Lisa — because Matt Groening wanted to pay tribute to animation impresario Jay Ward, who combined extremely basic animation with some extremely sophisticated punning in ‘Rocky and Bullwinkle.'”

EMAIL OF THE DAY II: “I sent Harry Truman a birthday card when I was twelve; the year was 1970. I was lucky enough to get an autogrpahed thank you note from the 33rd President. It hangs in my office to this day. And on President Truman’s stationary there was no period after the “S”. Yes, I read what the Truman Library website had to say regarding the period — but I choose to side with the stationary. So to me, Andrew, you missed no period.” More feedback on the Letters Page.

PRO-WAR SASSOON: The Guardian reports on new evidence detailing Siegfried Sassoon’s shift from being a pro-war poet to one of history’s most passionate anti-war writers. The Iraq analogy is strained beyond measure. But we all contain multitudes. And it’s interesting to see one man’s literary evolution.