Monthly Archives: February 2013
Who Does Scalia Think He Is?
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has been in the news a lot lately. But not for the right reasons. For years, Scalia has enjoyed the reputation of a deep thinker, a principled originalist, someone who believes that the law can be strictly interpreted without reference to a judge’s personal frame of morality. (Though he sparred […]
On Violence to Language
Has everyone seen this by now? The Republican party, famed for its skill at manipulating language to frame issues in a favorable light, came up with the portmanteau “Obamaquester” to describe what they feel to be Obama’s responsibility for the upcoming budget Armageddon. “Obamaquester” is what polled the highest? I can think of a few […]
Letter-Writing
A gaffe is when a politician tells the truth, right? So what’s it called when an executive tells everyone his petty, lazy opinion? What is it when he inadvertently reveals the truth of what it’s like in the C-Suite? I’m speaking of the underreported feud between Titan International’s Maurice Taylor and the nation of France. […]
Death and Penalties
One of the most famous communication blunders in political history occurred during the 1988 presidential debates, when Michael Dukakis, running against George H. W. Bush (and enjoying a sizeable lead in the polls) received this question from the moderator: “Governor, if Kitty Dukakis were raped and murdered, would you favor an irrevocable death penalty for […]
Excluded from Privilege
A discussion with a friend the other day got me thinking about the men’s movement, feminism, and even race. Men’s rights movements tend to operate under something of a victim mentality: many (see Reddit for examples) believe that men actually have fewer rights than women, and that women actively promote the superiority of XX over […]
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