Oink, flap, snork

Sun rises in West, water runs uphill, and it's time for the invisible work of the desk to stand forth. Here are two examples of top-grade copy editing that innocent readers, snug in their beds, will never notice nor need to notice. Original ledes from McClatchy's Washburo are followed by the versions as edited for McClatchy's Charlotte fishwrap:

With the resignation Monday of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, the Bush administration faces its most daunting task: repairing the reputation of a Justice Department reeling from the controversy over the firings of nine U.S. attorneys last year.

Good to hear that pesky war is settled! A gentle thwack with the cursor brings us a bit closer to empirical reality:

With the resignation Monday of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, the Bush administration faces a daunting task: repairing the reputation of a Justice Department reeling from the controversy over the firings of nine U.S. attorneys last year.

Does your writer appear to think all statistical concepts are interchangeable?

The Carolinas are rearing some of the country's most overweight kids, with nearly one in five classified as obese, a health study released Monday says.

The study says no such thing, and the desk hauls the writer back to earth:

On average, more kids are overweight in the Carolinas than in most other states, with nearly one in five tipping the scales at unhealthy weights, a nationwide study of obesity released Monday says.

Yep. Percentage of kids overweight has nothing to do with how far over the limit any portion of the little darlings might be.

Now, not all is puppies and kittens and birthday cake at Trade and Tryon. There's this spectacular collision of images from the O Hai I Mixted You A Metafor front:

Corny jokes, new campuses and pricey supplies open year like chalk across a blank slate as kids get back to class.

And this:

My, how big you've grown, blogosphere.

What can top an offer like that? Lids! Or a "this reporter":

Anyone with a laptop and an Internet connection can be a blogger -- for free. (It took 80 seconds for this reporter to start his own personal blog, simply by clicking on one of several sites and filling out two painless forms.)

Uh, yeah. Anyway, if you're one of the heroic copyeds who toned down the excessive prose of the Washington corps, take a bow. You made the craft look better. Nicely done.