Via Romenesko, the Sacramento Bee:

How rare is it these days for a reader to write a letter to the paper supporting President George W. Bush?

Well, visualize quietly efficient editorial workers diligently digging through the hundreds of e-mails, letters, faxes and online offerings submitted by The Bee’s readers each week.

Days and days go by until, finally, one suddenly appears, like a glimmering gold nugget in a clear Sierra stream: a letter praising the president.

Eureka!

It brings a smile to Bill Moore’s face, not to mention a sense of relief.

[snip]

“We’d love to put pro-Bush letters in,” he said. “If a letter like that comes in, it goes to the top of the list. I make a big deal about it.

And you know, it doesn’t matter. You can keep shunting those letters to the top of the list. You can keep fishing around for any positive sentiment, any at all, for the president. The 26-percenters are still going to hate you and blame you for his decline. No matter how well you cook the pot roast, they’re still going to beat you black and blue, so just stop pretending it has anything to do with you. It’s painful to watch.

A.