As former daily newspaper reporters, we have tremendous sympathy for writers on deadline, and we’re generally willing to forgive mediocrity as long as the banalities are spelled right. But every now and then emerges a lede so stunningly bad that it deserves public mockery, hence this small ode to the odious. FWIW, we will not give the writer’s name here, unless they happen to be a Hollywood actor pretending to be a writer, in which case we will identify Alec Baldwin.

June 7, 2010
Writer: Alec Baldwin
The Huffington Post

This Crisis is an Opportunity to Set An Example

I was speaking to a neighbor recently, out here on the East End of Long Island, about the BP Oil disaster and the impact the spill is having on the Louisiana coast, it’s wildlife and fishing industries. Eastern Long Island may be vastly different from the Gulf Coast in terms of culture and politics. However, both regions share a deep and historic link to their waters. Even today, areas on Long Island stretching from Riverhead to both Orient and Montauk Points seem linked, in a rather romanticized way, to a fishing past that has dwindled sharply over the past 40 years.
Editor’s note: You may dwindle, or you may decline sharply, but you may not dwindle sharply. Really. And the gratuitious apostrophe in “its” suggests there are no copyediting gatekeepers at the HuffPo.