You're not far wrong to think of them as the Bowery Boys of journalism, as the kids who sat in the back of the classroom doodling with a black crayon and giving the teacher and class suck-up the evil eye. I think irreverence is not the cornerstone. I think the cornerstone is analysis. But irreverence is an integral part of the process. I ask, to be provocative.
Toles responds carefully.
I tend to aim for a different result than I think he does. Toles's response, however brief on the page, consumes the next ten minutes of his life. I'm trying to picture this quote in print. And I'm trying to say something . I won't be sorry . . .