Self-Deprecating Humor and Biting Commentary

The Chron profiles a colorful 64-year-old grandmother-blogger headed for Iraq. The article waxes at length about her quirky personality, the simple philosophy which guides her life, and her family and friends. Only at the very bottom of the 1,500-word article does it explicitly state her perspective,

On July 4, 2002, she traveled to Washington, D.C., to serve an eviction notice -- "Three-day Notice to Perform or Quit" -- on President Bush "based on multiple violations of their lease, The United States Constitution."

In her last blog post (www.jpstillwater.blogspot.com) before she left for Kuwait, Stillwater confronted what could happen next with her usual mix of self-deprecating humor and biting commentary.

She told readers that she was headed to "Baghdad to write fabulous stories for YOU all about how our brave troops are doing a bang-up job over there despite the fact that their bosses in the White House are sadistic bastards, terribly inefficient crooks and totally nuts -- or I will spend three weeks wandering the streets of Kuwait City waiting for my flight home, searching for internet cafes and trying to sell bootleg Girl Scout cookies."

I admire Ms. Stillwater for following her star. What rankles me is the Chron’s puff-piece approach to a cranky Bush-hater who is a little out of the mainstream, even by Bay Area standards. Media bias? nothing to see here, move right along. © 2007 Stephen Yuen