Jonah Goldberg, writing about King Putz’s LAST SOTU blather:
“Several times I heard him say things that sounded politically ill-advised and so I checked the prepared remarks thinking that maybe I misheard. But I didn’t.”
Corrected (with emphasis added):
“Several times I heard him say things that sounded politically ill-advised and so I checked the prepared remarks thinking that maybe I had misheard. But I hadn’t.”
Getting the tense right improves clear transmission of meaning. Sloppy writing such as the example of Goldberg’s comment above, is indicative of sloppy thinking. When a guy is getting paid (as one must assume Goldberg is) for writing, getting it right is part of his job.