Homework And Harriet Miers
This column was written by CBS News Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith.
Inc. Three little letters on the top of a homework assignment that spell doom to school kids everywhere.
Inc for incomplete. Inc for go ahead and give this another shot, but, what was it about this assignment you didn't understand? Inc, for while you do have more time to complete your assignment, we have already passed judgment on you. You're a slacker, a malcontent, a pretender. You're lazy, or you're not working up to your ability.
I remember having those letters — inc — printed in lower case, with a red pen on some of my work. I wasn't surprised by it. I knew that what I had done was shoddy, unacceptable, a last minute rush job, a half pass, a feeble attempt, a lick and a promise as my mother used to say. Sometimes, time had just gotten away from me, or it was something I really didn't want to do.
Do you think in her entire life Harriet Miers ever received an incomplete until this week?
Harry's daily commentary can be heard on manyCBS Radio News affiliates across the country.