The fun thing about this is that it's on-topic. Here's a terrible sentence AP used as the lede for a story today:
ROME — The gay marriage debate arrived within walking distance of the Vatican on Saturday as Rome's mayor registered 16 gay marriages celebrated abroad in open defiance of Italy's government.
So...the marriages
were celebrated abroad in open defiance of Italy's government? No. It's
just a badly constructed sentence. You've got to watch your modifying
clauses, people. I keep tellin' ya that. Here's how it should have been
written:
The gay marriage debate arrived within walking distance of the Vatican on Saturday as Rome's mayor, in open defiance of Italy's government, registered 16 gay marriages celebrated abroad.
Note
that I simply moved "in open defiance of Italy's government" closer to
the word that it modifies (mayor). Yes, it requires you to set it off
with commas, and I know this trick may be difficult for those of you who
are punctuationally challenged. But it's really not that hard. (Of
course, the whole sentence should simply be rewritten. It still stinks.
But what can you do? It's AP.)
Luckily for us, the story is on-topic. Here's a bit more about this terrific Italian mayor.
Marino said Saturday was an important day in the fight for equal rights for all and that "the most important right is to say to your companion 'I love you' and to have that be recognized.
Sounds
like a smart guy with a good heart. And of course, the biggest bonus is
that this happened within shouting distance of the Vatican. Yay!
