Editorials
538 results
Page 46
Ethnic humor: Tips for Dr. Laura
It's OK for you but not for me: Three rhetorical tips for Dr. Laura
As someone who has practiced journalism, comedy writing and speechwriting for a living, let me attempt to set Dr. Laura Schlessinger straight about the rules of rhetoric, which also happen to be the rules of common sense.
Editorials
6 minute read
What hath Steven Slater wrought?
A role model for our time: What hath Steven Slater wrought?
Are you as inspired as I am by the dramatic resignation of JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater? Let's consider how other frustrated service workers might follow his example.
Editorials
4 minute read
The "right' to gay marriage, reconsidered
Sex, society and gay marriage: A few points Judge Walker overlooked
When a California judge ruled that gay people have the right to get married, he made the right decision for the wrong reason. Marriage is no mere private contract; it's a lifelong commitment that two spouses make not only to each other but also to their community. That's not a right; it's a heavy responsibility.
Editorials
6 minute read
The trouble with "All About Eve'
Show business villains revisited: Eve Harrington vs. Sammy Glick
All About Eve won the 1950 Academy Award for Best Picture, and ever since it has been justly acclaimed for its incisive portrait of Broadway backstage backstabbing. But something about this classic always bothered me, specially when it's contrasted to Budd Schulberg's Hollywood novel, What Makes Sammy Run?
Editorials
3 minute read
My words, echoed by Woody Allen
Great minds think alike?
Once in a blue moon a critic finds his thoughts and words echoed by the very object of his criticism. This deliriously serendipitous experience recently happened to me. My object, of all people, was Woody Allen.
Editorials
3 minute read
George Steinbrenner in peace and war
The armchair warrior
George Steinbrenner, the imperious and fiercely competitive boss of the New York Yankees who died on July 13, made a fetish of modeling himself after military figures. Unlike his heroes, he seems not to have understood the critical differences between sport and warfare.
Editorials
4 minute read
On not pitying Palestinians: A reply
The real Palestinian problem
For the sake of argument, let's suppose that all Palestinians are violent and self-destructive. Do they therefore forfeit any claim to our sympathy? For the answer, turn to Victor Hugo.
Editorials
4 minute read
Philadelphia writers, seen from the future
‘The Age of Scottoline,' or: The Athens of America, 2010
It was the dawn of a Golden Age: the Age of Fried and Bissinger, of Platt and Scottoline— yes, of Yoo and Santorum and countless other literary luminaries whose destinies converged on the bustling sidewalks of Nutter's Philadelphia.
Editorials
7 minute read
My neighbor, Lena Horne
Lena Horne, between black and white
Lena Horne was a beautiful and talented woman, justly embittered by the labels American society pasted on her. As her neighbor in New York in the ‘50s and ‘60s, I witnessed some of that bitterness firsthand.
Editorials
5 minute read
Free speech for corporations? Yes
Let the corporations speak!
Is free speech for corporations a threat to democracy? Most leading liberal voices presume that it is. As an editor who has spent much of his career fighting for free speech for everyone, I would argue the contrary: Free speech for corporations actually benefits democracy.
Editorials
6 minute read