The president makes decisions that affect our lives, our physical safety and that of the planet, and the durability of our democracy. It follows that we should know all that we can about that person’s intelligence, temperament, knowledge, curiosity, stability, judgment, curiosity and diplomatic skill.
(Elizabeth Drew, “Why a Shortened Primary Season May Prove Disastrous,” NYTimes, 2-27-20)
Let’s see… Now what was it?
(c) 2020 JMN
EthicalDative 
Someone hire JMN as an editor.
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Hah! You’ve glimpsed my true calling — counting commas and wrangling gerunds. But no one calls!
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Well, I think you are also a writer, to be sure. And a painter and a musician. Nonetheless your services are sorely needed in cleaning up text. You might additionally explain some grammar, as in point out what’s wrong with the texts you quote, so we may all learn. I make many egregious errors, especially with the advent of my cataract which helps my brain fill in gaps and not see typos.
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You’re very generous, Eric. I’m grateful for the compliment. I will take your suggestion seriously to be more explicit on what I perceive to be “wrong” (or else just interesting) in something I cite. I try to treat most slips lightheartedly, deserving a chuckle more than censure. I know 99% of them are accidental, and don’t really affect or distort content. One of my own most frequent “accidents,” especially in chats, is writing “your” for “you’re.” I like to observe informally how certain structures or words in English seem to be under pressure to evolve or disappear because native speakers often misuse them. It may point sometimes to an underlying ambiguity or awkwardness, or perhaps a uselessness for communicating, that usage is tacitly overcoming. I think I glimpsed recently something about a movement to drop the possessive apostrophe in English. I doubt that any organization can legislate that to happen (the French try to do such things), but it may happen of its own accord if enough users make the “mistake.” I’ve drifted here, but thanks for your interest and comment.
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I can’t speak for other people, but I’m always interested in understanding language better. Even though I’m an English teacher, I’m teaching the basics for communication, and not the more sophisticated stuff. So, I can learn from such tips.
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I learn a lot about art and painting from your writings, I’m happy to say.
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