Part: 123456789         Session: 1         Page na123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839404142434445464748495051525354555657585960616263646566676869707172737475767778798081828384858687888990919293949596979899100101102103104105106107108109110111112113114115116117119120121122123124125126127128129130131132133134135136137138139140141142143144145146147148149150151152153154155156157158159160161162163164165166167168169170171172173174175176177178179180181182183184185186187188189190191192193194195196197198199200201202203204205206207208209210211212213214215216217218219220221222223224225226227228229230231232233234235236237238239240241242243244245246247248249250251252253254255256257258259260261262263264265266267268269270271272273274275276277278279280281282283284285286287288289290291292293294295296297298299300301302303304305306307308309310311312313314315316317318319320321322323324325326327328329330331332333334335336337338339340341342343344345346347348349350351352353354355356357358359360361362363364365366367368369370371372373374375376377378379380381382383384385386387388389390391392393394395396397398399400401402403404405406407408409410411412413414415416417418419420421422423424425426427428429430431432433434435436437438439440441442443444445446447448449450451452453454455456457458459460461462463464465466467468469470471472473474475476477478479480481482483484485486487488489490491492493494495496497498499500501502503504505506507508509510511512513514515516517518519520521522523524525526527528529530531532533534535536537538539540541542543544545546547548549550551552553554555556557558559560561562563 of 564

suppose. The ones that had come-down to Washington were youngish, except for the oldtimers who ruled everything and who were men of distinction. These younger men had a hard time getting a job and were being paid very badly because times were bad. They had a hard time breaking into the newspaper world. They didn't have the spit and polish that the older newspaper men had. They didn't have any of that sort of distinction of attitude and background of knowledge. They were quite ignorant.

They didn't even have knowledge of the English language. A vocabulary that had any words over one syllable in it was way beyond them. I remember noticing that and noticing how they put everything into slang. If you said something in ordinary English, they would turn it into a slang phrase and ask you if that was what you meant. “What's your angle on this?” was one of the first questions that stumped me. I didn't know what they meant by “What's your angle on this?” I never heard of “angle, angle, angle.” To this day I don't know exactly what they mean, and I don't think they do. I think they had grown up in the use of inexact language because it's protection from reality. You don't have to face the facts if you use inexact language, neither do you have to report the facts. You can write almost anything if what you've asked is “What's your angle?”