Quoted in the Post

Today’s Washington Post quotes me, as follows:

the $700 billion price tag “doesn’t seem comprehensible to me. Theoretically, most of it should be paid back, right?”

Now, I did say that. I even gave the writer (who is an attractive woman, BTW) permission to use the quote, by itself. I don’t have a problem with it, don’t feel I was mis-quoted or mis-represented. But I was curious about the nature of the story.

The reporter wanted to write a story about the “feelings” of the person on the street. When she first asked me, I explained I didn’t really have feelings. I had some thoughts. I gave her a lot of my thoughts. She noted that I seemed pretty well informed, implying I probably did have feelings. My quote was my way of saying that, because the number was so inconceivable, there was no point in processing it on an emotional level. In the article, it was just another feeling.

I liked the article, but I just think it’s interesting. Newspapers assign stories according to well-known structures. When they go out to find the quotes to fill in the structure, they find what fits.