Last Thursday, I followed routine, emailing my monthly column to the Albuquerque Tribune, one week ahead of its scheduled publication on the third of the month.
Meanwhile, Frank Rich stole some of my thunder in the Sunday New York Times. And William Safire stole more of it this morning.
By the time you read my piece - in case you don't get the Tribune, I will post it here Thursday - it will make darn little noise.
"So who cares," I hear you saying.
I do. Not that I delude myself into thinking I am in the same league as Rich and Safire. But...well...it's fun to be first with an idea. Or, at least, to finish in the running.
Oh, well. There's consolation in the theory that "great minds think alike." Isn't there?
PS Perhaps you should think about subscribing to the Tribune, whose readership keeps sinking; these days we get news in the PM from TV, radio and the Net. It's got a lot of good reading, including Molly Ivins.