WHY JOHNNY CAN’T TALK

When Sgt. Johnny McKeel came marching home to Balch Springs recently after a 444-day ordeal in Iran, he immediately became the darling of the local media. Reason: McKeel quickly developed a reputation among reporters for being a man who likes to shoot off his mouth for the media.

The young Marine was barely off the plane at D/FW Airport when he told reporters how he would like to, well, get closer to some of the local Texas girls. Soon rumors sprang up that McKeel’s quotes were too good and that the Defense Department wanted him to stop making all those stupid statements. But the Defense Department denies that McKeel’s liaison officer was assigned to shut him up.

Regardless, it did raise behind-the-scenes eyebrows when the Morning News reported that at a ceremony at city hall McKeel had “temporarily lost his voice” and couldn’t talk.

Sure.