Politics
For me, the highlight of Tuesday night’s one-and-only vice presidential debate was when each admitted he was kind of a schmuck. This was a highlight in relief from a 90-minute game of dodgeball played by a couple of serious, courteous men trying to be liked by the folks at
Education
You’ve got to wonder about “science” that puts its weight behind an experiment to determine if monkeys looking at pictures of candidates can predict an election’s outcome. A story carried in the Daily Mail says the idea may seem ludicrous, but . . . No, stop right there. It is ludicrous
Entertainment
“I am a Swiftie,” my 30ish restaurant server was surprised to hear me say, after the meal had concluded and we were having a brief chat, which was joined by a couple of other young women standing nearby. “What’s not to like?” I asked. A couple of days later
Politics
At 2:30 this afternoon at WHYY, Vice President Kamala Harris will be interviewed by members of the National Association of Black Journalists, whom the Inquirer did not name. I expect it will be much more friendly than the group’s interview with Donald J. Trump, in which he made
Politics
Finally, at long last, after precedent-busting preliminaries, we arrived at the Main Event — the 100-minute, winner-take-all bout, the Felon versus the Prosecutor. If you are a supporter of Donald J. Trump, you must be disappointed. After months of him calling Kamala Harris “stupid” and “incompetent,” she was neither during the
Culture
Following the Harris/Bash interview, I looked at the Facebook home page of two women writers, each well-educated and bitchy. (I mean that in a good way.) The reaction of Lady A: “I’m bored.” Lady B: “She did great.” Now — neither of them was lying. They said what they
Journalism
I’ve been a professional journalist for more than 60 years, I’ve covered all kinds of stories and interviewed all kinds of people. There is no subject I am afraid to tackle, but if I were Dana Bash, I’d be feeling a butterfly belly, and a puckered sphincter
Journalism
This is an example of the press putting its thumb on the scale. This photo shows a Washington Post story as carried in the Philadelphia Inquirer. The story is what’s called a sidebar, or an auxiliary story that supports the main story, which was Donald J. Trump’s campaign
Politics
Way back at the end of July, that seems a century ago, as the palace intrigue was winding up, with Kamala Harris winning the game of musical Presidential chairs, I gave her some heartfelt advice in a 5-point plan, which she seems to have taken, although I have no evidence
Politics
On Thursday, accidental Presidential candidate Kamala Harris introduced herself to America. A month ago, her approval ratings were lower than Joe Biden’s. Today, she is the Joan of Arc of the Democrats’ 2024 campaign to drive a stake through the heart of Donald J. Trump. But lurking in the
Politics
Tim Walz got the premier closing slot at Wednesday’s Democratic National Convention, and he did a lot with it, in only 16 minutes. I note some media outlets were calling it “coach’s night,” rather than “teachers night” or “National Guard night” or “governor’s night.” When a writer
Humor
I can imagine the herky-jerky excitement at McDonald's headquarters in Chicago. No, not because of the nearby Democratic National Convention. It’s because the possible next President of the United States, and her husband, were both employees at one time, with potential First Husband having been an “employee