Marcos Breton: a realist.

It’s safe to say that I really dislike talking about politics. It’s so dry, and so boring and it seems like the same thing is said over and over just in a different context or about a different state. So when I saw the columnist I had to choose from on the Sacramento Bee’s website it seemed like all of them just talk about politics, so annoying!

Then I came across Marcos Breton who surprised me. While he does do his fair share of writing about boring politics he also writes about real stuff, you know, things of interested to real people like gay marriage, sports, and shocking courtroom decisions.

He is what I like to call a real columnist. Someone who is able to write about a bunch of different topics and write about them well.

One thing I did notice that is a big “no-no” in the column writing world is that he started out asking a question in his “Bad vote on gay marriage a wake-up call at American River College” article when he starts out asking a question, “What do you do when a college student tells you he is against gay marriage because he fears the wrath of God?” While the question is a pretty interesting one it still is too cliché to start out by asking a question, right Professor Fitzgerald?

While Breton did get his point across that the student at American River College are against same sex marriage he did it in a way that was not confusing, it was very easy to read and he leaves his audience thinking at the end of his article which I really like because it makes us ponder the possibilities of whatever he is writing about.

A good example of this is when in the same article he states, “ARC proves that. But the students at the school also prove that democracy works. You just have to pay attention.”

Another article titled, “Next time, you could be a panhandling victim.” He starts off by writing about his experiences with panhandling in downtown Sacramento as well in the Arden Fair parking lot. Of his experience in the Arden Fair mall parking lot, “She carries a baby whom she doesn't shield from Sacramento's blazing summer sun. Also in tow is a preteen boy, possibly her son. This lad never looks up. One wonders if his spirit has been broken from being party to such a pitiable scene?”

When he writes about this I can actually pictures myself there with him as he writes it, which to me is so crucial in good column writing. I like to feel a part of the experience and not be looking in on it even though I literally am.

All in all I really like his style of writing because he just makes sense and his wording is not confusing as most columnists I find are. There is nothing worse than trying to decipher the meaning of what I’m reading and Breton makes this especially easy.