The metaphorical beating of breasts and rending of garments over CNNs’ “town hall” with Donald Trump is a salient lesson that providing live air time for proven liars and dissemblers, noted for a proclivity to control the narrative, is the equivalent of allowing them to write the script, and there’s enough of that done by flaks and sycophants without adding to the pool.… Read the rest
The outpouring of punditry, comments and editorial cartoons in the U.S. media and on social networks, expressing everything from bemusement to criticism and derision over the coronation of King Charles III, has led me to ponder what it is about the American psyche, or at least that of a significant portion of the population, that I don’t understand.… Read the rest
Apart from the inevitable aches and pains, one of the drawbacks to aging is that you think the singers who were your soundtrack are forever the age they were when you first heard them, and only really accept that they’re not when they die. And so it was this week with Gordon Lightfoot.… Read the rest
The line between setting high standards and bullying is nigh on impossible to discern in today’s hyper-sensitive world. Since stepping over it costs jobs and reputations, I suggest those who would pass judgement consider this thought from the 1908 novel “The Magician” by W. Somerset Maugham: “It’s a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it.”… Read the rest
As a journalist, nothing about FOX “News” inclines me to be anything but profanely disparaging of their ultracrepridarian lawsuit defence of commitment to “the highest journalistic standards.” In an effort to comment and still maintain decorum, I sought afflatus (not what sprang to your mind) from a delightful work called “Foyle’s Philavery”.… Read the rest
Here’s a simple test to validate the headline of this post.
From 2014 to March this year, 26,334 MIGRANTS/REFUGEES/EX-PATS died or went missing trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea from Turkey and North Africa.
Now rank the capitalised labels according to the chord they struck.
… Read the rest
“Too much of anything is bad, but too much good whiskey is barely enough”. Health concerns aside, Mark Twain’s aphorism is an apt way to measure the reporting booze-up of the Trump arraignment. Too much of nothing happening on air for too long distilled the live coverage into a vintage more akin to a cheap blend than a fine single malt.… Read the rest
News of a shift in American politics to the point where “antiwar voices on the left have aligned with ‘America First’ enthusiasts on the right who resist entangling the United States in foreign conflicts”, will no doubt come as a relief to those who might be concerned about what recent versions of “American values” entangling might include.… Read the rest
In a response to the Nashville school shooting horror, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R‑La.) managed to add a clause to the rote “keep those families in our prayers” that in any other context might indicate he actually has a grip on the reality and urgency of the issue: “…and then see if there were things that were missed along the way.”… Read the rest
Political perfidy, economic irresponsibility and disagreement over acceptable social norms and speech have become so pernicious that those who favour a sensible and civil middle ground, need some help to stay sane in the hope of reason eventually prevailing. To that end, I offer this advice from the gold standard of crisis management, Winston Churchill: “Stay calm and K.B.O.”… Read the rest