I might stay up late and do nothin' all night long.

 I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but I don't use too many opinion pieces when I put together my News. Once in a very rare while, one will fit the bill for the point I'm trying to make too well but for the most part, I can find legit hard news sources covering whatever the pundit is yammering about. There's a reason for that: I really don't care for opinion writers and people who're paid pundits.

 It is sort of funny because when I first decided as a teenager that I wanted to be a journalist when I grew up, I initially wanted to be an opinion writer. It just seemed like a lot of fun to get paid to give my opinion, especially since I had so many opinions I really felt needed to be spread far and wide. There were other reasons I wanted to be a journalist - not necessarily a reporter, but a journalist and, yes, there is a difference - but that was a major one.

 I eventually got over it, partly because they'll let any dingbat who's well-connected enough write a column in The New York Times regardless of how much they've actually earned it. Used to be, a column in a major publication like that was sort of a reward for a career down in the trenches of bringing the news to the people. You had to make your bones before you got the cushy gig, and that invariably brought a little bit of wisdom regardless of your ideological stance or political leanings.

 Now any clown who's dad is a mover-and-shaker in publishing can waste space in Newsweek or The Washington Post complaining that people are being mean to them just because they suggested there's nothing wrong with gassing protestors or having "free speech zones." It's gotten worse as time has dragged on, and it was pretty horrible 20 years ago.

 So I feel it's best to ignore all of them and hold them in contempt until they prove me wrong. I acknowledge this isn't fair of me, so I won't use them in the News, especially if I happen to agree with them. Same goes for Name Journalists, particularly if they're another straight white middle-class white dude like, for example, me. I've been pruning my Twitter of those guys. They get one strike, and I'd rather hear from someone who might have an entirely different vision of the world than the one that's been sold to me as "The Way Things Should Be."

 As far as news sources, there are very few I won't use. I just don't pay attention to whoever wrote the story. I figure it's become like whoever's running sound at a club show: so long as they're doing his job, I'm not having to think about him. If I do, it's because they're screwing up. There are a few complete garbage sources, like The Washington Examiner or OAN but they rarely offer anything that can't be found somewhere else if it's worth reporting on at all.

 I think that's good for now. I needed to get that off my chest, that's all. There are some news items I do want to explore - notably the accusation on ICE doing forcible hysterectomies - but that one definitely needs to marinate a little while longer. That's my other rule: let stuff work out. I'm not getting paid for scoops.

 Hell, I'm not getting paid at all.