Michael Hiltzik, the L.A. Times, May 2, 2014:
Greg Sargent, The Washington Post, July 22, 2014:
From "uncharacteristically blunt" to "typically blunt" in just 2 1/2 months.
That is all.
Update: Just to clarify, I wasn't criticizing either reporter for their description. Both stories are well done and I'm on good terms with both Hiltzik and Sargent. I just thought it was kind of funny, that's all.
Plus, in all seriousness, it may actually be accurate--I probably have become more "blunt" over the past few months, especially since the open enrollment period ended.
During the enrollment period, for instance, many of the attack points ("How many have PAID?? How many were ALREADY INSURED?? How many YOUNG PEOPLE were there??") were unknowns. ACA opponents may have been hyperventilating and overhyping these issues, but they were worth asking; it's just that it was far too early to ask.
As a result, I was more muted in my responses, since there was always the "they could be right..." caveat in the background.
However, in the months that followed, and as the answers to those questions were revealed, I stopped being quite so subdued with my language as I started losing patience with people who continued to act as if these were still huge mysteries.
In addition, I admit I'm getting more and more irritated with the HHS Dept's decision to go into radio silence over the summer and fall. No enrollment reports in the off-season was a bad idea which keeps getting worse as time goes on.
So, yes...I suppose my "bluntness" has indeed increased over the summer.