I am a writer, with hundreds of magazine articles and two books. I have held editorial positions at several national magazines.
I often contribute letters to the editor, and most of them get printed. Recently our local paper got a new LTE editor, who takes all the sting out of my letters, and turns them into bland statements.
Brevity is the soul of wit. I wrote two sentences, but the editor had to add two more to wreck the thought.
Here is the original version, followed by the published version.
GOP members of Congress don't seem terribly concerned about photographs of boxes spilling open and documents with nuclear secrets and defense capabilities strewn across a floor in Mar-a-Lago.
If Hunter Biden's laptop had stolen thousands of secret documents and stored them in a bathroom, I'm sure every member of the Republican Party would be outraged.
The published version:
I am writing about the reaction to the recent indictment of former President Donald Trump for allegedly taking classified documents from the White House.
GOP members of Congress don’t seem terribly concerned about photographs of boxes spilling open and documents with nuclear secrets and defense capabilities strewn across a floor at Trump’s home in Florida’s Mar-a-Lago resort.
Republicans have been obsessed with Hunter Biden’s laptop in recent years. If the president’s son had stolen thousands of secret documents and stored them in a bathroom, I’m sure every member of that party would be outraged.