All the News... You Care to Peruse?

Proud of his furry face, Mr. Ryan wondered on social media whether he was, in fact, the first bearded House speaker in a century.

I can't believe the NYT chooses to flatter Paul Ryan's face.  Are there no furry men in Washington that a beard is such a novelty?

The sad thing is,
you cover a furry-face story here, a pink-ribbon personal take there (the furry faces in November counter the pink-bedazzled October spectacles),
next thing you know -- we're all friends and it sure is tough to ask a nice guy like Paul,  he's a dad multiple times ya know!, hard questions.  About the job.  About the few weeks of work he'll be putting in each year, and the few hours of work he'll be doing, when he's there...

Living out of the office, he is, and flying home quick!
To get back to his oxygen...

I don't begrudge the man his furry face, his hunting tales, his family or his faith.
But I do wonder when he's going to be called on not doing his job.  You know, not just as the leader of the pack now, but as a mere representative.

I don't think, after today's fluff piece, we should be expecting much in the way of news coverage of the this new House.  "Meet the new House... same as the old House..."  (except the Speaker this time has a beard!  and he's young!  And Alan can get a nifty tale about history, from the past, and men who wore whiskers in Washington..." ) *le sigh*

Of course,
behind every man is a little lady... and in this case, Alan knows her as "Janna".  First-name basis and all.  How intimate.  (Ryan couldn't pay for political ad coverage like this...) 

On Monday, Mr. Ryan’s beard drew mixed reviews online, with some suggesting it was little more than five o’clock shadow and others urging him to let it grow.

A spokeswoman for Mr. Ryan said that the beard was not a Movember move, but was actually a remnant of a weekend “deer camp.” As for its permanence, it seems that one constituent will have the deciding vote.

“He’ll keep it as long as Janna lets him,” she said, referring to Mr. Ryan’s wife.

Aww.
(Betcha Paul drops a note to Alan Rappeport today, joshing with him, or thanking him for the nice article... It's like, they're gonna be friends now.  I can smell it!  Paul Ryan is still putting those school day, brown-nosing gifts to use, and the reporters in Washington are still lapping it up.  Guess they don't see many men like him there.  "Hunting?  A beard?  Wow!")

Maybe if Alan's good, he'll get an invite to cover the Speaker's hunt next year in Wisconsin.  That's something to hope for!