Dems and Republicans: August 2008 Archives

Here's a final e-mail from York Township resident Colleen Burkett, apparently sent from the stadium in Denver just before Brack Obama was about to speak.

Tom,
They are no longer allowing people into the stadium.
We can see them gathered on a small hill outside the stadium. They can probably see the large live feed screen.
Have turned the lights on in the stadium...This is amazing
Colleen

Neat, huh? Well hang on, because there's more to come.

I don't have a lot of time to write at the moment. It's been a long day, and I've got some last-minute packing to do before I head out for a few days of vacation.

Very briefly: Bob Casey stopped by this afternoon to meet with our editorial board. He said a whole bunch of interesting stuff. Watch tomorrow's paper for a synopsis.

Just as that was wrapping up, my editor flagged me down with some more big news. John McCain is coming to town next week.

When we last left off, my editor was calling me about Monica Goodling -- York Haven native and erstwhile aide to erstwhile U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez.

It turned out, of course, to be the flap over hiring practices at the U.S. Department of Justice.

Judging from a few off-the-job conversations I had last week, it seems to be one of those mini-scandals that everybody hears about, but few people fully understand. I blame the tendency we journalists have to over-explain things when we report on them. Because it's really not that complicated.

I could hardly believe the two words that had just emanated from my cell phone.

"Monica Goodling."

It was about noon on Monday and I had just finished an interview at York Hospital about their new hospital gowns. It looked like I was in for a slow day.

Then my cell phone rang. My city editor wanted to make sure I was heading back soon. Monica Goodling -- a York Haven native and 1991 graduate of Northeastern High School -- was back in the national news.