The following is an excerpt from OpinionJournal.com’s “Best of the Web” written by the editor, James Taranto.

News of the Tautological
“More Jobs Needed to Put Dent in Unemployment”–headline, Dayton Daily News, May 15

Bottom Stories of the Day

  • “Alleged Drug Kingpin Arrested in Mexico”–headline, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 14
  • “Health Care Costs Continue to Rise”–headline, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, May 13

Who Needs Whom Now?  (from 3/23/11 BOTW Archives)
Kim Guadagno is the lieutenant governor of New Jersey. We know, who cares? Well, she’s the first lieutenant governor of New Jersey. The position was created by a 2005 amendment to the state constitution, and the 2009 election was the first in which a lieutenant governor was chosen.

We know, we know! Who cares?!

Fred Snowflack cares. In September, on his Morris Politics blog for the Daily Record of Parsippany, Snowflack wrote:

After eight months, Kim Guadagno is winning kudos for style and grace. Yes, she is professional and classy.

But after eight months, you still have to wonder why New Jersey needs a lieutenant governor.

A story we had today noted that Guadagno attends various ribbon cutting events, but is kept off-limits ro [sic] reporters. She often is on hand for Gov. Chris Christie press conferences, but is just about never called on to say anything.

Knowing that her duties would be minimal, Guadagno was also given the job as secretary of state. Yes, we need a secretary of state, but we do not need a lieutenant governor. That is no reflection on Guadagno, but a reflection on a job that really isn’t.

Snowflack is no longer with the Daily Record. His last blog entry, posted Feb. 4, announced cryptically that it was his last day with the paper and he was going into “exile.” GannettBlog has much more information about the cutbacks that hit Snowflack and many of his Record colleagues.

Don’t worry, though. He found another job, and one that takes full advantage of his blogging experience. He contributes to You’ve Been CC’d, the blog of the New Jersey governor’s office, whose contributors list informs us that the communications director for the lieutenant governor is the delightfully named Fred Snowflack.

For more “Best of the Web” click here and look for thef “Best of the Web Today” link in the middle column below “Today’s Columnists.”