Emphasis is obvious in the Bible when the writer begins by saying: "This is a true statement," followed by the statement.

So here is a true statement: It's not so much what you say, but how you say it.

Consider the Chicago priest who mocked Hillary Clinton by crying about "a black man stealing my show." He has been asked to temporarily step down from his position.

Then there have been the fiery words from the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, which, combined with the priest's poor acting performance at Trinity United Church of Christ, finally convinced Barack Obama to withdraw his membership from the congregation.

Obama got caught and criticized in his own words about small-town or Midwest voters: "They get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

And the Clintons (just call them the Hillbills in the Brangelina tradition) have had to overcome the same learning curve on occasion, talking about sniper fire, assassinations, gender bias and other foot-in-mouth diseased comments.

While there are other examples, finally consider the editorial cartoon in Wednesday's Tribune, where John McCain is crying on one side of the bed with a depiction of a lobbyist looking at him from the other side of the bed. McCain, drawn in a manner than could be construed as his being a baby, says: "I'm distancing myself from lobbyists now!" It's possible some might grumble and dismiss the cartoon as off-point, childish or partisan, but it is highly unlikely the cartoonist will be asked to temporarily step down from his position.

Some comments, or suggestions, are considered serious missteps, viewed more harshly than others, while some are accepted as fair play.

There seem to be at least a couple of reasons why.

First, when what is being said is put in writing, or in the case of the editorial cartoon, drawing, there is more time to carefully craft the message. When answering a question in front of a television audience, there seems to be a self-induced need to create a "sound bite" that will make it on the air, and it's too easy to step over the line and be too creative, later regretting the words.

Second, we are hypersensitive when it comes to issues of race, gender and religion. Maybe we should, but do we really care about lobbyists? If putting some distance between him and lobbyists is the best anyone can muster in an attack on McCain, it could be clear sailing for the Republican, unless he falls into the misstep line.

It's good to be sensitive in what we say and write, as well as how we say or write it. That is a print media advantage that we offer in a new special Tribune feature.

While we have long encouraged readers to submit letters to the editor and other opinion positions, under their own name, those have often focused on disagreements with the newspaper and/or another submitted piece. They can be pointed and direct and critical.

Now, we also will seek submission of guest columns of another focus. There are many personal life stories, many of which can be shared and learned from. One that will be published on Saturday is "A boy named Sioux," written by Jeff Turning Heart, who works at the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center in Washburn.

He doesn't care if you call him Sioux, Lakota, American Indian, First People, First Nation or simply Jeff. But you'll learn from his words that life isn't always easy for a boy named Sioux.

Jeff will be the first of what we hope will be many guest columnists who will entertain and inform readers with personal stories, some about serious issues, some focused on appropriate humor, some that will inspire us - but none will be accepted if they are about sound-biting, name-calling, bully-pulpit-ting or politicizing.

If you'd like to be considered, you can e-mail a guest column to me along with a jpeg head shot and a very brief bio. As guest columnists qualify, their thoughts will be published most often on the Saturday Dakota section cover page.

We look forward to your submissions. And remember, how you write something will go a long way toward having published what you are writing about.

(You can reach Editor John Irby at 250-8266 or john.irby@;bismarcktribune.com and go to www.bismarcktribune.com/blog/?w=thepaper&e_id=2671/ to read his blog.)