[Russell] Baker writes columns as a poet writes light verse-with tongue in cheek and a steady hand.

I am being a little tongue-in-cheek.

I am told that our chroniclers' practice of inventing speeches for great persons whose lives they write is unscholarly.

It reminds me of a piece of jade. The emerald light coming from within is refracted and dispersed according to the consistency of the impurities that gave it its quality.

Watch your mouth: The language we use creates the reality we experience.

If we can't keep this tongue-in-cheek, it can get mean-spirited, and we don't want that.