Give that man a camera and a microphone!

James Taranto and the Best of the Web Today crew find a story about a guy who must be some kind of major league crackpot if my tv news is to be believed.

Katherine Kersten, a columnist for the left-wing Minneapolis Star Tribune, reports on the experience of Jim Lodoen, a local lawyer who went to Houston to visit his sick mom and ended up spending a week volunteering at the Astrodome, and who has a similar story to tell:

Lodoen circulated among residents' cots, striking up conversations. "Everyone has lost their possessions, their jobs, many friends and perhaps some family. No one knows what tomorrow holds."

But to his surprise, he saw no resentment. People were eager to talk, he says--not about grievance, but about hope and gratitude.

He met a family that had slept in stadium seats for four nights. "I said, 'That must have been terrible.' 'Oh, no,' the woman said. Instead of focusing on what they lacked, they were deeply thankful for what they had: food, lights, a roof, each other." . . .

Back at his mother's hospital room, Lodoen saw television reporters interviewing victims who appeared angry and indignant. "I thought, 'Where are they coming up with these people? I'm not seeing them.' "

He was also shocked at the shrill finger-pointing on the news. "All around us, politicians are focused on the blame game. Yet the victims themselves are blaming no one. I didn't hear one complaint. In fact, I was overwhelmed by the love, faith, determination and compassion that everyone shared." (Emphasis mine.)