Embedded
There's been some handwringing among journalism's bishops and cardinals about the damage done to credibility as a result of "embedding" journalists with troops. People can't help but begin to feel close to those with whom they spend weeks in harsh situations facing a common enemy. What will this do to the objectivity of their reporting?

Thus wail the Arbiters of Objectivity. I think they may be on to something, and it makes me think we should pay more attention to the embeddedness problem, because it exists in more places than Iraq. Take your typical New York Times writer, for example. He's likely embedded deep into a network of solipsistic left-wing intellectuals who think Sunday was created by random forces of the universe so that enlightened childless people could go to Starbucks and sip a Cool Mint Latte while reading the New Yorker.

Perhaps we should rotate these people through the Heartland, lest they grow too attached to the skewed stratum of upper crust humanity that serves as their network of friends. I know Maureen Dowd for one is long overdue an assignment at the Peoria Journal Star where she can reconnect with the problems facing real America. Let's rescue Maureen from her embeddedness before it's too late.