Dreaming Of A Right Christmas

Before I disappear for vacation, I just wanted to wish you and yours a heartfelt “Merry CHRISTMAS.”
That’s right, I said CHRISTMAS. Please understand that I am not, repeat NOT, wishing you happiness during any other winter “holidays.”
The past few weeks, I have been bombarded by “happy holidays” greetings from sacrilegious store clerks, [...]

The Holiday Spirit, To Whom It May Concern

We tackle all the controversial communications issues here at our little blog. But hold onto your mouse, because this is the hottest of the hot.
Holiday form letters: Love ‘em or hate ‘em?
Now, I’ve heard your snarky comments about those holiday letters filling your mailboxes these days. And sometimes I have [...]

Red, White and Yellow?

It’s being reported this morning that prisoners from the Guantonomo detainment facility will be transferred to an upgraded prison in Illinois, pending congressional approval. Prepare for some major cable news thumb-sucking.
“Hide the women and children,” the cable news fear mongers and Obama Administration critics will effectively shriek. “Put America’s enemies in someone else’s [...]

ENDorsements

Juxtapose Gillete’s “the best a man can get” ads, and headlines about Tiger’s weeping family moving to an island to escape humilation.
Justaxpose Accenture’s “Be a Tiger” ads and spicy details about Tiger being an extramarital tiger.
Juxtapose Nike’s “Just Do It” ads, and Tiger indiscriminately doing it and doing it and doing [...]

Journalists Could Illuminate A Better Deficit Debate

During times of war and economic crisis, some believe deficits are a necessary evil. At the same time, some believe we should never run deficits.
This debate is healthy. Journalists should press Obama and his congressional supporters about whether 2009-10 was a justifiable time to run a record deficit, and when and [...]

Where All the Children Are Above Average?

Fake journalist John Stewart recently did an exposé on fakey journalist Gretchen Carlson, the former Miss Minnesota turned Miss Fox News. On Fox, the Anoka native frequently plays Palin-esque “aw shucks” anti-intellectual cards. For instance, Carlson recently pretended to look up the words “czar,” “ignoramus” and “double dip recession” to prep for her [...]

“The Minnesota Compromise” on Health Reform?

In the health reform debate, the Senate is split between “public option,” and “private only.” It’s reminiscent of the mid-19th century, when the split was “slave” versus “free,” and the Senate ultimately landed on middle ground, the Missouri Compromise of 1850.
In the waning days of 2009, the Senate is once again desperately searching [...]

Beyond the Senate Health Reform Speeches

The knives are out in the Senate health reform rumble. To be sure, a vote in support of health reform is politically perilous. Voters are very nervous about how the complex proposals will impact their lives.
But political admakers are also spotlighting how a vote to KILL reform can sting politically. [...]

One Data Point

If extraterrestrial anthropologists were evaluating our species, what they would make of this: A human is fined just $212 for propelling a 3,000 pound hunk of metal at his fellow humans at 109 miles per hour. Later that week, the same human is fined more than twenty times as much ($5,000) for [...]

Does Size Really Matter?

Danielle Steele’s novels are automatically superior to Leo Tolstoy’s novels, right? That must be so if you adopt the logic of a common contemporary Republican talking point: Big documents are automatically inferior to short documents.
Increasingly, it seems Republican pols and pundits love to criticize legislative proposals by citing the SIZE of the package. [...]