This morning I had to get the emissions inspected on one of our vehicles, so I was in the car listening to morning radio, which usually goes something like this — The host picks a juicy morsel out the news, possibly adds something salacious, and then tosses it out to the hungry masses who wants to have their say.

(People with a neighborhood pub or coffee shop, where they can jaw with their friends, probably don’t need that kind of outlet.)

Anyway, the topic of the day was Juan Williams’ comment that Sarah Palin is not up to snuff with Obama on an intellectual level.

To which, it seems, several obvious responses come to mind.

1. Palin can seem rather ditsy at times,
2. But there’s no question she communicates well with a large segment of the population,
3. Who says Obama is so smart?,
4. But he does speak well and has that professorial manner about him, and
5. Is Williams simply trying to mend fences with the left?

Everything on the radio this morning focused on points 2 and 3, with a large emphasis on the claim that Obama blithers when he doesn’t have a teleprompter. (Does he? I haven’t paid attention.)

In other words, the morning listeners to WMAL were only getting a slice of the story.

Later in the morning I sat down with my Nook and started in one of Wodehouse’s Psmith novels, which began with a soliloquy on journalism in New York City, and that got me thinking.

What niche is not being fulfilled in the news publishing world today?

The answer, I believe, is a review of the daily buzz that covers all the angles on every story — briefly — with links to more if you want to dig.

That would be worth dialing up on the metro every morning.

It would have to be non-partisan, by which I mean that it would have to have partisans from all possible sides.

I think that would be a good daily read, so long as it’s short, and so long as it can balance the talking points of the various factions.

(Ignore this — JJCKCYP2GEJ3)