Politics
Wow — look at the calendar (providing you haven’t been blinded by the fakakta eclipse). It’s almost Pennsylvania primary day, Tuesday, April 23, when we begin the process of choosing politicians we hope won’t disappoint us. Starting with President, where our primary choice is between two elderly white
Police
No, I am not blaming the victim. What I am saying is wake the hell up! When a police officer stops you and gives you a command — obey the officer! Yes, even if you feel the stop is unconstitutional, racist or humiliating, just shut the F up and obey the
Culture
Is Scrabble going Woke? That’s the first thing I thought when I saw a CNN report about Mattel bringing out a version of the popular board game that is less “intimidating.” Less intimidating? Words are now microaggressions? I wanted a tile for Y. The new Scrabble Together is also
Culture
During the course of a memorable career, I have been an editor of both magazines and a newspaper — notably features editor of the Philadelphia Daily News. In that role, not only did I accept submissions of questionable merit, I actually commissioned some. One that sticks out in my mind was
Donald J. Trump
Ask the people who know Donald J. Trump best — the once-loyal partisans he appointed to high offices — who now line up against him. From vice president to former press secretary to former lawyer, an unprecedented number of his appointees now repudiate him, some in the harshest of terms, as reported
Culture
Jonathan Zimmerman is going to get his ass fired. Not at Penn where he teaches education and history (and has tenure), but from the Philadelphia Inquirer, where he has been a veteran, left-leaning contributor. His offense? Deviation from progressive orthodoxy. Look — it’s bad enough the broadsheet felt obliged to
Culture
When things happen in New York, America’s largest city, there is usually a spillover effect. A new policy becomes law, and pretty soon New York wannabes become copycats. (OK, to be fair, when a policy works, why shouldn’t it be copied?) I am talking about the soon-to-be-instituted congestion
Culture
It’s a little crazy at the White House this Easter, which is a religious holiday, the most important holiday on the Christian calendar. In one case the holiday is being disrespected, but not in the other. In the first case, some were surprised to learn that children of National
Culture
No, it made me laugh, and that is my test for what gets used. I don’t have to agree. The interesting thing about this, if you want to analyze it, is that the target is not really women — it is the Disney corporation, and its movement into the Magic
Elections
As a fellow columnist, Tom Ferrick, used to say about being a columnist, Often wrong, but always certain. He said it in Latin, because he went to parochial school, but that’s not important. To be successful as a columnist, you must have clear, sharp opinions. Some think that makes
Journalism
Some have described it as the inmates taking over the asylum, and since MSNBC hosts had the pole position in the uprising, that’s understandable. But their loud objections caused their boss — remarkably — to do a 180-degree turn, and rescind his hiring of ousted Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel
Cherelle Parker
While Cherelle Parker — Philadelphia’s 100th and first Black female mayor — promised no new taxes in her first budget address, she did not mention that she was more than doubling the mayor’s budget, a move that even the friendly Inquirer described as “unusual.” Her budgeted staff is exploding from