I Stand Corrected

So you spend your time working on blog, trolling the Internet, looking for interesting topics to expound upon. You try to make it good. And what happens? Nobody reads it. Your voice is an echo in the wilderness.

Then, you have days like today, when you get comments like this one on my "Follow The Money" post from April 18:

I am writing to correct the record to this posting.

The "Pete Geren" listed is most likely Preston M. Geren Jr. - the father of Acting Secretary of the Army Preston M. Geren III.

The Acting Secretary of the Army Geren did not make any contribution to the Rudolph Giuliani presidential campaign. He does not make contributions as a matter of practice. He certainly would not make a contribution to a presidential campaign while serving a president.

Very Respectfully,

COL Dan Baggio
Chief of Army Media Relations

OK then. So I check the Google and find that the Army does have a spokesman named Dan Baggio. So I go back and check my post. Pete Geren, $2,300, Rudy Giuliani. OK. Go back to the database. Preston Geren, $500, Rudy Giuliani. OK, where's the number 2,300 come from? Which Preston are we talking about?

So I go to the FEC database. We find that Preston M. Geren Jr. donated $500 to the Rudy Giuliani Presidential Committee Inc. on March 27. Research would seem to support the good Colonel's claim. So did the numbers change? Do I just suck at reporting? What happened? I don't know.

But here's what I have to do -- man up and say I just screwed the pooch. So here goes:

Dear Secretary Geren:

Your Chief of Media Relations, Col. Dan Baggio, contacted me regarding my post of April 18 where I reported that you had donated $2,300 to the Rudy Giuliani Presidential Committee. I was wrong. You didn't donate the money. Looks like your dad did. And it was only $500. My bad. I apologize.

But as long as I got you here reading my blog and all, I'd like to ask you a few questions:

What's up with all the Preston Gerens? I know it's a family name and all, but could you mix it up a little for those of us who can't keep y'all straight.

Next time you talk to Charlie ... could you ask him for one a those "Life's too short to live in Dallas shirts?" I wear an XXL. Too many Railhead ribs, y'know.

Next time you see Col. Dan you might check his computer. He's on the Interwebs a lot. He might be looking at porn. Check his hard drive just to make sure.

Regarding Iraq: I know y'all are working on it a lot, and you're spending a lot of money, but could you do one thing for me: please help Pfc. Joshua Calloway. He seems like a good kid who is suffering from PTSD at Walter Reed. And, honestly, it sounds like the Army is doing a horrible job of helping this young man. Please, please get Joshua the help he deserves.

Respectfully and sincerely,

Steve

P.S. The next time I see you up at Ocean Rock, I'll buy you a beer. Friends?