The people's business

A lot of people are unclear about what it is that I do every day. They know, of course, that there are times when I hold officials' feet to the fire, speak with stars and charge headlong into incredibly dangerous situations with no regard for my own safety or indeed anything but The Story.

And that's true. Part of the reason I got into this gig is that I get to do the whole charging thing and nobody shoots at me. But as any cop, firefighter or combat veteran will tell you, it's all about hurry up and wait, and that goes double for those of us a few lines back. I often share with you all the hurry up, which admittedly involves some gun play, loose women and dead bodies.

So I give you a taste of Carson City's Dave Morgan. He's a man whom I respect deeply; a guy who has sold his soul to journalism. If you have even an ounce of understanding of what it is to grasp and convey the people's business, he'll stun you to silence and make you ashamed of whatever pursuit you've made of your life. Even if you're a self-promoting (albeit handsome) emo jerk like me.

And still you may watch this and ask yourself: Really? Is this what it is to cover public affairs? And you'd be right. The job is 85 percent boring. Folks go to meetings; say things and do things that only occasionally matter. And yet there are those rare times when it means everything. The time comes and context is all and if you don't get what has happened over the past nine months you don't get what is happening now.

Things spontaneously combust and you can't understand the mechanism because combustion has not been your sole pursuit over the past several months. But it has been for someone, and Dave Morgan -- not Keith Olbermann, Sean Hannity or me -- is that person. Watch now the master at work and weep at his sacrifice because, shockingly, he does not appear on camera at any point.

Happily, I do. If you're checking, look stage left of the large gentleman in a white sweater and you may spot me taking notes in a brown sweatshirt. The difference between Morgan and me is that his story is done as you watch this and mine struggles on until my Friday deadline. That, and I occasionally meander into the realm of petite brunettes. Purely by accident.