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

Now That’s What You Call an Optimist 
” ‘I personally wouldn’t go to the Internet for a recipe . . . but I know that’s not fashionable,’ said Jan Longone, the 80-year-old curator of the American culinary history collection at the University of Michigan and a longtime friend of Julia Child and James Beard. ‘I’ll put it this way: 20 years from now, I’m probably going to be obsolete.’ “–Washington Post, Sept. 11

Longest Books Ever Written 
“Life’s Hard Lessons”–headline, New York Times website, Sept. 9

It’s Always in the Last Place You Look
“Analysis: President Obama Finds Limits of Powers of Persuasion”–headline, ABCNews.com, Sept. 10

image1036News of the Tautological 
“New College Rankings Come Under Fire for Favoring Elite Schools”–headline, Inquisitr.com, Sept. 10

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