Osama bin Hitler Bonaparte Boothe

Uh-oh.

Another example of the difference between an "historian" and an Historian

So, I'm in the process of writing a series of concise Oregon Encyclopedia articles on some U.S. Navy ships that had Oregon-based names. One of the entries is on the U.S.S. Oregon City (CA-122). This isn't brain surgery that I'm doing here -- writing informative and authoritative 250-500 word entries on U.S. Navy ships isn't all that complicated.[1] With this and other such entries, I have, of course, consulted the most essential sources[2], but I also wanted to include in my entries some truly Oregon-specific information.

Among other things I've done is to consult various articles in the Oregonian, as I've been able to find them. In this search for documentation to bring new and intriguing information to readers, I've experienced some frustration that speaks directly to the frustrations I've had with so-called "historians," and am now in a position to articulate the essence of this frustration.

What we have here is another example of the difference between amateur and professional -- or, the difference between someone who's not conscious of what she or his is doing and why he or she is doing it, and someone who is.

In this particular instance, it's one of those things that seems obvious in hindsight but makes all the difference in the world.