Or did they? One would certainly think so from these quotes from US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan: Duncan told Bloomberg Television that Texas schools have struggled under Perry, saying he feels “very badly” for children who attend them. “Far … Continue reading →
…explains to Obama why speeches are not that important: Democrats were sure Reagan was wrong, so they explained his success to themselves by believing that it all came down to some kind of magical formula involving his inexplicably powerful speeches. … Continue reading →
Apparently it ends when talking about the Tea Partiers. Joe Nocera of the NY Times writes: You know what they say: Never negotiate with terrorists. It only encourages them. Can’t really disagree with that. Except the next sentence is this: … Continue reading →
Yesterday I used the phrase “kabuki theater” to describe the debt ceiling machinations between the president and Congress. I didn’t exactly think I was making a unique observation, but apparently I was stepping into one of the most overused memes … Continue reading →
Today’s earlier post presented me with one of my least-favorite grammatical dilemmas: which pronoun to use in concert with a non-gendered word such as “anyone” or “someone.” The sentence in question was, “And anyone who believes his promises deserves what … Continue reading →
Here’s some spambot wit: This site is so cool even ice cubes would be jealous. Don’t mean to be pedantic, but I think the bot actually means “envious.” Those two words are all-too-often mixed up, a pet peeve of mine. … Continue reading →
…wonder no more. Some time ago, the teaching of writing liberated itself from the surly bonds of clarity, rules, and white oppression (is that redundant?) and escaped to touch the face of diversity and self-expression. Now, huge numbers of writing … Continue reading →
Those cruel and racist Republicans have introduced a bill to declare English the official language of the US and to require a basic knowledge of it in order to become a citizen (although there would be some exceptions for unusual … Continue reading →
I recently read Savage Beauty, a biography of American poet Edna St. Vincent Millay. There are several passages in the book that describe the power of Millay’s voice and its remarkable ability to transfix and even seduce (in Millay’s case, … Continue reading →
You know, I just don’t regard Sarah Palin’s WTF as a big f-ing deal. [NOTE: It may be time to recycle this post.]
Continue reading →CNN’s John King has apologized for guest Andy Shaw’s use of the now-forbidden word “crosshairs” in describing the Chicago mayoral race. Bravo! Let’s just ban all non-literal speech, metaphors and colorful language of any kind. Let’s ban not only guns, … Continue reading →
The New York accent seems to be on its way out. Not only is it less common than it used to be, but scads of New Yorkers are hiring speech therapists to rid themselves of theirs, which are seen as … Continue reading →