Guebert: Sometimes you need to put lipstick on a pig

Guebert: Sometimes you need to put lipstick on a pig

Six months into my first job as pup reporter in another century, I pestered my boss to transfer me from the green fields of north central Iowa to the story-littered streets of Washington, D.C. to cover the just-brewing 1980s ag crisis. My pitch was earnest and honest: As the crisis began to bleed rural Americans’ profit and hope, government would be forced to take a more active role in everyday decision-making with programs like new farm loan gu…