Please stop Tom Curry before he hurts someone

This story had to have originally been from some Mad-Libs for Reporters book. This is what Tom Curry, intrepid MSNBC reporter, had to say:

President Bush and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi both need Jim Marshall.

He’s a House Democrat who represents the kind of Republican-leaning district in the South — in Macon, Ga., and its environs — that Pelosi must keep in order to hold onto her majority in the House.

And Bush needs the support of Marshall and Democrats like him to give his Iraq policy a chance of success.

Pelosi must keep Jim Marshall in the fold because, if we don't, the margin in the House will be 232 to 203. True, we would still have a sizable majority, but we would have a palindrome for a number (I really don't know why that is bad, I am just assuming that this is the reason it is so important to keep Marshall on board).

Note to Mr. Curry: I know you want to write a story about how the American people are evenly divided over Iraq. I know you want the reading public to believe that the Democratic party is holding on by a thread to its Congressional power because the rest of the country is still really conservative.

However, that just isn't true. First off, Jim Marshall represents a VERY conservative district as he came extremely close to losing his last election in 2006 (a year in which the entire populace was trending Democratic). Consequently, I would venture to guess that he is trying to stay in the good graces of his district. Secondly, Marshall is not coming out in support of the plan. As is noted later in your article, Rep. Marshall is still on the fence.