¶ Matins: The only bad thing about Sarah Palin’s $150 K Neiman Marcus wardrobe is that it is not a story. That’s what wardrobes cost for people thrust in the public eye. If Ms Palin were a game show host, her clothes would cost a great deal more. Why are smart, worldly people suddenly pretending to be frugal Yankees, shocked, shocked to discover that Ms Palin wore Cole Haan boots in Bangor? Seal view, play!

¶ Tierce: In what could be a bold stroke for the Information Age — if money doesn’t run out altogether — the MTA will enhance a Brooklyn subway station with computer screens indicating the current location of every train on the L line, which stretches from the old Meatpacking District in Manhattan to Canarsie on Jamaica Bay.

¶ Nones: Leading market indicators suggest that Wall Street is doing fine. Take today’s joke, for example: “What’s the difference between a pigeon and a hedge fund guy?” (Give this a minute, and you’ll see it coming.)

Oremus…

§ Matins. I’m not going to defend the expenses. But the reporters filing snarky comments such as this one —

What the number $150,000 suggests is that Ms. Palin traded up to designer versions of the clothes she wore before stepping onto the national stage, a surprising implication for a candidate who emphasizes her appeal to working-class voters.

— ought to bear in mind what happened to Joe the Plumber’s recycling. “Surprising implication” my ass. It’s business as usual. It may be reprehensible, but if it is, then a few million Americans are just as guilty.

§ Tierce. The implications of this, if it works, are nothing short of transformative. Broadcasting the information on the Internet would allow commuters to cut platform time to a minimum. And, who knows? Motormen might even try to coordinate their arrivals and departures at key junctions!

This is the kind of bell cum whistle that can make a real change in people’s lives. If we’re supposed to live in the Information Age, why is there so little of it, and why are authorities, civil and corporate, so constipated about it — when they’re not being simply mendacious? “The truth shall set you free” — free, at least, to control your own time-wasting.

§ Nones. “The pigeon can still make a deposit on a Maybach.”

Drop me a line at rjk@dailyblague.com
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