First, we have NPR’s infamous Nina Totenberg:

Well, these agencies, including the Defense Department, don't know how much money they've got and for what. And I was at – forgive the expression – a Christmas party at the Department of Justice and people actually were really worried about this.

Yeah, forgive the expression “Christmas.” I know what some of you are thinking: Who’d invite her to a party? That’s the real mystery.

On a more serious, and disturbing note: The New York Times’ “Vows” column on Sunday sunk to a new low.

In May 2008, Mr. Partilla invited her for a drink at O’Connell’s, a neighborhood bar. She said she knew something was up, because they had never met on their own before.

“I’ve fallen in love with you,” he recalled saying to her. She jumped up, knocking a glass of beer into his lap, and rushed out of the bar. Five minutes later, he said, she returned and told him, “I feel exactly the same way.” Then she left again.

As Mr. Partilla saw it, their options were either to act on their feelings and break up their marriages or to deny their feelings and live dishonestly. “Pain or more pain,” was how he summarized it.

Isn’t that nice? The vows column starts out with both of them breaking old, inconvenient vows for new, shiny vows.