Stories We Prefer Not Having
to Write—But Will

It's a new year, and we've been trying to find new topics for our columns.

In reviewing the columns over the past few years, we wrote against racism and animal cruelty. But, there's still racism and animal cruelty, so we'll still have to speak out on these critical social issues.
JANUARY 2009
A Year of Change>>

The Courage of Michael Vick

The Philadelphia Eagles honored reserve quarterback and admitted dog-killer Michael Vick with an award for courage. Yes, you read that right. "Michael Vick" and "courage" are in the same sentence.
DECEMBER 2009
Michael Vick Honored>>

Ripped from the Headlines:
Greed, Corruption, and Hate Crimes in Northeastern Pennsylvania

Dick Wolf, who created "Law & Order" and its two successful spin-offs, "Law & Order: SVU" and "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," should probably consider establishing a branch office in Pennsylvania.

It seems that whenever any of the New York City cops take a road trip to find a fugitive or track down a witness, they go to Pennsylvania. Apparently, New Jersey is only a buffer zone.
DECEMBER 2009
Hate Crimes>>

Rush to Judgment:
Talk Radio's "Truth Detector"
Blows a Fuse—Again

  It wasn't unusual that Rush Limbaugh went ballistic on his show, Nov. 13. He does that several times a day.

It wasn't unusual that he mixed a few facts with opinion and outright lies in his three-hour daily show. Fact checking for the man who calls himself "America's Truth Detector" is as rare as union organizers working for Walmart.
NOVEMBER 2009
Rush Limbaugh>>

Legacies, Celebrities, and Media Skanks

NBC news correspondent Jenna Bush Hager had a news exclusive. And, like news exclusives in the Era of Infotainment TV, this one was broadcast by the entertainment division. Specifically, Jenna Bush interviewed her mother, Laura Bush, on 38th episode of "The Jay Leno Show."
NOVEMBER 2009
Media Skanks>>

Scary Isn't a Kid in a Halloween Costume

We are being told to fear the swine flu virus, and then learn that the vaccine, which was supposed to be available in mid-October, won't be ready for awhile.

It makes little difference anyhow, since about fifty million Americans don't have health insurance and couldn't afford the cost of vaccinations or treatment.
OCTOBER 2009
Swine flu virus>>

Sex, Silicone, and Suits:
Miss California Goes a-Courtin'

It began when an openly gay judge asked Miss California, Carrie Prejean, what she thought about same sex marriage. Prejean, a student at San Diego Christian College, said that although she recognizes and accepts that others may believe in same-sex marriage, "I think I believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman." That created a firestorm of publicity for the Trump-owned organization. A large minority of Americans said they supported Prejean's opinion. A large minority said she was reciting biased lessons of intolerance; Perez Hilton, the judge who had asked the question, on his blog called Prejean "a dumb bitch." However, several prominent gay rights activists defended Prejean's right to her opinion.
OCTOBER 2009
Miss USA Contest>>

Read All About It!
Michael Vick Hero of Eagles' First Game

The Eagles fans--desperate for a Super Bowl trophy and proclaiming that since Vick paid his time he should be forgiven--gave him a hearty ovation when he first appeared in the game early in the first quarter.
SEPTEMBER 2009
Michael Vick - First Game>>

A Lot of Sorry But(t)s

Within two weeks in September, Americans were cluster-bombed by hate speech and a shock wave of incivility. From politics to music and sports, with the mass media more than willing to devote thousands of column inches and hours of air time to salacious reporting, those shock waves eventually degenerated into mere ripples that have become commonly accepted.
SEPTEMBER 2009
Hate Speech>>

Late Breaking—Sometimes Broken—News

WNEP-TV, a large regional station in northeastern Pennsylvania, led its noon news, Friday, Sept. 11, with the announcement that there was finally a compromise on the state budget.
SEPTEMBER 2009
Breaking News>>

Labor Day: The Unknown Holiday

It's Labor Day, and that means millions of Americans are celebrating. Most Americans have no idea what Labor Day is, other than self-serving political speeches, hot dogs, burgers, a pool party, and the last day of a three-day holiday. Few even know that Labor Day exists to allow people to remember and honor the struggles for respect, dignity, and acceptable wages and working conditions for the rank-and-file employees.
SEPTEMBER 2009
Labor Day>>

Michael Vick:
Remorseful Eagle
or Smirking Dirty Bird

PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 27--The crowd at Lincoln Field gave superstar quarterback/convicted felon Michael Vick a standing ovation when he entered the game on the second play against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
AUGUST 2009
Michael Vick>>

A Bunnies' Tale

Disregard what you saw Bugs Bunny, the Brooklyn–born wise-cracking Br'er Rabbit spinoff, do to mentally-lame hunter Elmer Fudd and a host of cartoon characters.
Peter Cottontale, Peter Rabbit, and Roger Rabbit. Thumper, the March Hare, and The Easter Bunny. All are smarter in fiction than in real life. Even the average Playboy Bunny is brighter than the average rabbit.
AUGUST 2009
A Bunnies' Tale>>

The Great Government
Swine Flu Conspiracy

More than 230,000 cases of the Swine Flu have been confirmed world wide. About 2,100 persons have died. As much as one-fourth of America's workforce may be infected by Swine Flu when it peaks in Winter, according to studies conducted by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
AUGUST 2009
Swine Flu>>

Disrespectful and Disgraceful:
The Republican Policy
Against First Responders

It isn't unusual that the Republican party is anti-union.

It isn't even unusual that the Republican National Committee sent to its base  a loaded questionnaire with blatantly leading and highly biased questions.

But it is unusual that the party that claims to ally itself with homeland security has not-so-subtly attacked the firefighters and police who responded to 9/11
AUGUST 2009
>Against First Responders>>

Prescribing Cake to
Cure the Health Care Crisis

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), who has led the fight for universal health care for more than four decades, writing for the July 27 issue of Newsweek, argues that "quality care shouldn't depend on your financial resources, or the type of job you have, or the medical condition you face. Every American should be able to get the same treatment that U.S. senators are entitled to."
JULY 2009
>Health Care Crisis>>

You Betcha Sarah Palin
Has a Higher Calling

Sarah Palin said she had a "higher calling" that required her to resign 17 months before her term ended as governor of Alaska, and not to seek a second term.
JULY 2009
>Sarah Palin Resigns>>

Tarnished Shields:
The Morally Bankrupt 'Family Values' Republican Leadership

This week, second term Gov. Mark Sanford of South Carolina disappeared for six days, leaving the state without a chief executive who could make decisions in an emergency. His Republican lieutenant governor didn't know where he was, and had not been given any authority to make decisions in his absence. The state police said they had not been informed. His wife told the Associated Press she didn't know where he was, wasn't worried about him, and thought he was "writing something and wanted some space to get away from the kids" over the Father's Day weekend. His senior aides said he was walking along the Appalachian Trail to "clear his head.".
JUNE 2009
Sanford Disappears>

Twelve Angry White People:
Jury Nullification in a Pennsylvania Coal Town

The Schuylkill County, Pa., justice system managed to do something that insurance actuaries do with mixed results--it determined not only the penalty for threats to a human life, but also the value of a human life.
JUNE 2009
Jury Nullification>>

Waiving the Rules for Old Glory

It wasn't long until commercialism in the guise of patriotism dominated the American unity. In newspaper and magazine ads, in television campaigns, whether for cars or political races, we saw the message and an image of the flag. In myriad direct mail flyers, we first saw the flag and a patriotic call-and then an advertising pitch that each of us had an inviolate right to buy whatever the advertiser was pushing. General Motors even claimed that we could "get America rolling" again by buying cars.
JUNE 2009
Old Glory>>

The Dick Cheney Magical Mystery Media

Dick Cheney has apparently been on a magical mystery media tour.

He has sought out and been interviewed by more TV journalists and talk show hosts during the past month than during the eight years he was vice president.
MAY 2009
Dick Cheney Tour>>

The Americans Are Revolting

The Americans are revolting!

All across the country-from Boston to Atlanta to San Antonio-thousands of Americans, inspired by Fox News and radio conservative talk show hosts, took to the streets to protest.
APRIL 2009
Americans Revolt>>

Pennsylvania's Signs of Spring

For some people, the first day of spring occurs when they see a crocus poking its purple head through the snow.

For others, it's seeing the first robin.

But these are unreliable signs, for nature is so unpredictable.

For us, the harbinger of spring is seeing that first pylon on the Interstate and just about any state highway.
MARCH 2009
Signs of Spring>>

An American Outrage:
Bernie, AIG, and Us

Legislatures in Pennsylvania and Illinois are considering bills that would reduce or eliminate what animal welfare advocates call mutilations, and what breeders and American Kennel Club (AKC) call "breed standards." Because dogs are considered by state laws to be property, individual owners may currently cut and shape dogs' ears (cropping) or amputate part or all of their tails (docking), often without a proper sterile environment or anesthesia.
MARCH 2009
American Outrage>>

The Painful Cost of 'Breed Standards':
Mutilation vs. Cosmetics

Legislatures in Pennsylvania and Illinois are considering bills that would reduce or eliminate what animal welfare advocates call mutilations, and what breeders and American Kennel Club (AKC) call "breed standards." Because dogs are considered by state laws to be property, individual owners may currently cut and shape dogs' ears (cropping) or amputate part or all of their tails (docking), often without a proper sterile environment or anesthesia.
MARCH 2009
Breed Standards>>

The Beeper Cacophony

Barack Obama was determined that the only way anyone was going to take away his BlackBerry was if they pried it from his cold dead hands. Or, something to that effect.

The President justifiably relies upon his BlackBerry, but many rely upon electronic communications as a status symbol or as a crutch so they don't have to make decisions or  engage in face-to-face conversations. Such was the case at a party I thought I might have attended.
MARCH 2009
Beeper>>

Toothless:
The Watchdog Press
That Became the Government's Lapdog

PART II: The Lapdogs Get Some Teeth

In May 2004, the New York Times, while claiming it was aggressive in pursuing stories about the Bush-Cheney Administration, slipped in an apology for acting more as the mouthpiece for politicians than as a watchdog for society. "Coverage was not as rigorous as it should have been," the Times admitted. Part of the problem, the Times acknowledged, was that "Editors at several levels who should have been challenging reporters and pressing for more skepticism were perhaps too intent on rushing scoops into the paper." The Times concluded it wished "we had been more aggressive."
FEBRUARY 2009
Watchdog Press II>>

Toothless:
The Watchdog Press
That Became the Government's Lapdog

PART 1

The president of the Associated Press (AP) was spewing venom at the Bush-Cheney administration for having turned the Department of Defense into a propaganda machine.

Americans "expect honest answers about what's happening to their sons and daughters," Tom Curley told journalism students and faculty at the University of Kansas.
FEBRUARY 2009
Watchdog Press>>

The Republicans Have
Nothing to Party About

Every House Republican and 11 Democrats voted against President Barack Obama’s $819 billion stimulus package. It still passed by a vote of 244 to 188.

There are enough votes in the Senate to pass the bill, but the obstructionist Republican minority, still nursing the wounds inflicted by the public in the November election, can block it by endless political maneuvering and a filibuster.
FEBRUARY 2009
Republican Party>>

Match This for Stupidity:
Taxing a House of Cards

My wife is a smoker. Except for one year when she quit, she's been a smoker since she was about 18. But she’s cut back, from as many as three packs a day to just three cigarettes. And, she now smokes outside the house.

At various times, she was asked to show an ID. When in her 20s she saw it as an annoyance. By her 30s and 40s, it was a compliment. Now it's just downright annoying.

The law restricts persons under 18 years of age from buying or smoking cigarettes. My wife understands why she must be “carded.”
JANUARY 2009
House of Cards>>

From the Hudson to the Potomac:
Hope and Courage
for a Depressed Nation

Chesley B. (Sully) Sullenberger, who ditched his aircraft in the Hudson on Thursday, is by all accounts a hero. When he had a “double bird strike” and lost all power shortly after taking off from New York’s LaGuardia Airport, he had to quickly calculate a few thousand things, the most important of which was how to get his aircraft down without hurting anyone on the plane or in a projected landing area below.
JANUARY 2009
Hope and Courage>>

Unnecessary Concerns:
Democratic Leadership Should Have
Little Fear of an Obama Administration

Sens. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) flexed their muscles, shook their rattles, and told President-elect Barack Obama not to tread upon them.

“I don’t believe in the executive power trumping everything, Reid, the Senate’s majority leader, told the political newspaper, The Hill. He said he believed “in our Constitution, three separate but equal branches of government.” For emphasis, he warned, “If Obama steps over the bounds, I will tell him. . . . I do not work for Barack Obama, I work with him.”
JANUARY 2009
Obama Administration>>

The $6 Million Social Worker

The New York Yankees just bought a first baseman for $180 million. For the next eight years, Mark Teixeira will earn about $22.5 million a season. The week before, the Yanks bought seven years of pitcher CC Sabathia’s life for $161 million, about $23 million a season--and five years of A.J. Burnett for $82.5 million, about $16.5 million for each season, according to the Associated Press. None of the salaries include any incentive pay or outside endorsements, which add millions to each salary.
DECEMBER 2008
Social Worker>>

One Leg Raised on the Bush–Cheney Legacy:
Deconstructing the Spin and Propaganda

The chairman of the Republican National Committee may have begun an irreversible descent into a future as a fear-bound paranoid victim of functional amnesia, possibly caused by a hysterical post-traumatic event such as the overwhelming victory of Democrats in the 2008 election and the nation’s repudiation of Republican policies.
DECEMBER 2008
Legacy>>

Hit me, Congress, One More Time:
Bailing Out the Auto Industry

Congress should bend over, dig into the public coffers once again, and give the auto industry everything it wants—even though 61 percent of Americans oppose a bailout, according to a CNN/Opinion Research poll.

A couple of weeks ago, CEOs from GM, Ford, and Chrysler, known collectively as the Big 3, revved up their corporate jets’ engines, dropped in on the Senate, and testified that without a $25 billion bailout western civilization would collapse.
DECEMBER 2008
Bail Out>>

They Auto Know Better:
Fueling Anti-Union Fires

My local newspaper editor, as he does regularly, once again attacked unions as the problem in America. This is the same editor who once said “all the laziest goof-offs and goldbricks in the newsroom” where he began his career were union officials—and that the unionized New York Times editorial writers are nothing more than “limousine liberals.”
NOVEMBER 2008
Anti-union>>

A Turkey By Any Other Description—
Is Still the Governor of Alaska

President Bush, as has every president since his father began the practice in 1989, annually pardons a Thanksgiving turkey.

Amid hundreds of spectators, most of them members of the media, the president makes a few cute comments, issues a pardon for the turkey and a “runner-up” (in case the Main Bird can’t fulfill all the duties), and then sends the turkeys off to a petting zoo or ranch, where they live about a year.
NOVEMBER 2008
Turkey>>

Making an Invisible Minority Less Invisible

During the presidential campaign, Barack Obama was called mentally unstable; his supporters were called unpatriotic. At Sarah Palin rallies, in newspaper letters-to-the-editor, on conservative radio and TV talk shows, supporters spewed hatreds, resorting to the Bush tactics of fear mongering to support their own candidate.
NOVEMBER 2008
Invisible Minority>>

McGhosts and Ogoblins

There are a lot of scary things in this world, but one of the scariest is that Halloween and the Presidential election are only five days apart. It's hard to miss the parallel between tricks-and-treats and the promises-and-panderings of politicians masquerading as the most caring, most vital, most sincere candidate. While standing behind their lapel flag buttons, they are quick to dress their opponents in something less patriotic.
OCTOBER 2008
McGhosts>>

America’s Buddy-Buddy
Campaign Press Corps

It’s a little more than a week before the presidential election, and I’m worried about what happens afterwards. I’m not worried about the candidates, the people, or the country. I’m worried about the media.

First, I’m worried about the TV ad salespeople. For more than a year they haven’t had to do much other than sit back and open digital files from the politicians. Now, the salespeople will actually have to go to work to fill airtime.
OCTOBER 2008
Press Corps>>

Going Negative Not a
Positive Way to Get Votes

During the final debate last week, Barack Obama called John McCain on the negative ads, saying that 100 percent of his radio and TV ads were negative. Not true, replied McCain. True, according to the Advertising Project at the University of Wisconsin. Almost every ad in a one-week period before the debate was negative.
OCTOBER 2008
Get Votes>>

Conservative Group Is Right:
Free Speech Is Not a Political Issue

The Sunbird Conservatives, a student group, put out some pro-McCain literature at a recruiting table at Fresno Pacific University a week ago.

Seemed innocent enough. The conservatives weren't harassing anyone, nor were they blocking any sidewalks.  

But, administrators at this Christian-based college didn't like it. A dean told the students to either remove the McCain literature or to agree to what he said was university policy to present both sides. The dean correctly noted that the First Amendment applies only to government intrusion. A private university, unlike a public university, may curtail any free speech it wants.
OCTOBER 2008
Free Speech>>

Sarah Palin Wins Debate—by Darn

The vice-presidential debates proved one thing. At the very least, Sarah Palin can be trained.

For several days, she had camped out in one of John McCain’s Arizona houses, where she underwent Debate Boot camp conducted by drill instructors who make Marine DIs appear to be slaggers.

With a few “darns,” “betchas,” and “ya”s, Palin managed to get all her talking points into the debate, even if she constantly changed the question to suit her note cards.
OCTOBER 2008
Palin Debate>>

Stampeded by Fear, Scammed by Lies:
Why the Bailout Failed

The Republican leaders of the House of Representatives grabbed a half dozen bags of sincerity, looked directly into every TV camera they could find, and lied.

The House had just defeated, 228–205, a bipartisan $700 billion bailout bill. But it was the Democrats who were the subject of vicious rhetoric.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) “poisoned our conference,” screeched Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio), the Republican minority leader. He said the House would have voted for the bill “had it not been for the partisan speech the Speaker gave on the floor of the House.”
SEPTEMBER 2008
Bailout>>

Seizing America by Withholding
the Mother’s Milk of Politics

It was Monday evening and the phone rang—again. It was probably the fifth time in two hours. A pleasant voice said she was from the—oh that really doesn’t make any difference. Both presidential candidates have volunteer minions on the phones and Internet day after day, month after month, for what seems like years.
SEPTEMBER 2008
Seizing America>>

Burning the First Amendment

“Got a match?”

I didn't know where he came from, but there he was, right behind me—as usual. “You know I don’t smoke,” I told Marshbaum. “Come to think of it, you don't either. What's up?”

“Not much. Planning to roast some marshmallows and hotdogs. Burn some books.”

“Marshbaum,” I commanded. “You can’t burn books.”

“Sure I can. All I need is a match. See, first you—”

“Burning books is against everything this country stands for.”
SEPTEMBER 2008
Amendment>>

No Wolf Whistles for Sarah Palin's Compassion

Defibrillator usage increased last week after John McCain announced Sarah Palin as his vice-presidential running mate and only a heartbeat from the presidency. But, shortly after most Republicans were shocked back to life they circled the wagons to declare she was the perfect choice. Apparently, the cure also included a dose of psychotropic drugs as well.
SEPTEMBER 2008
Sarah Palin>>

Labor Pains: Unions, the
Mass Media, Economy, and
an Anti-Worker Administration

Once a year, I and a few dozen other reporters and columnists write a Labor Day story. And, like most Americans we don't remember our history.

We don’t remember that the Knights of Labor created the first Labor Day in 1882 and that Congress made it a national holiday in 1894.
AUGUST 2008
Labor unions>>

No News is Bad News

During the time that Bill Clinton was rocking the Democratic convention, ABC, CBS, and Fox were showing re-runs, NBC was showing the second hour of “America’s Got Talent,” and the CW was showing the second season finale of “Pussycat Dolls Present: Girlicious.”

Less than two decades ago, the networks gave the conventions gavel-to-gavel coverage. This year, the networks are giving only four hours prime time coverage to each convention.
AUGUST 2008
Bad news>>

Americans Need to
Tear Down This Wall

The “star” of the Olympics may not be multiple medalists but the Great Wall of China. Every TV network covering the Olympics took the world to see the Wall. It seemed as if almost every newspaper and magazine reporter also visited the Great Wall.
AUGUST 2008
Olympics>>

Downsizing the News
And Pretending to
Increase Quality

Executive management at the Allentown Morning Call recently laid off more than two dozen persons from its newsroom, most of them veteran reporters drawing higher salaries. Management plans to cut 35–40 positions, according to a letter sent by publisher Timothy Johnson. The cuts are about one-fourth of the news staff. The remaining reporters are being told to write more stories under the same deadline constraints. Coverage of local meetings has been put into secondary importance; bureaus have been combined. The Morning Call is not alone.
AUGUST 2008
Downsizing>>

'Medaling' With Free Speech at the Olympics

President Bush sounded just like a liberal.

Yes, you read that right. Bush. Liberal. Same sentence.

At the new U.S. embassy in Beijing on the opening day of the Olympics, he said, “All people should have the freedom to say what they think.” Without even blinking, he also told the world, while directing his comments at the Chinese, “We strongly believe societies which allow the free expression of ideas tend to be the most prosperous and the most peaceful.”
AUGUST 2008
Olympics>>

Geo Beach:
A Swamp Yankee in the Last Frontier

When Geo Beach looks you in the eye and says that “Tougher in Alaska,” his 13 week series on the History Channel, isn’t Reality TV, you believe him.

It might be the sincerity seen in his penetrating blue eyes.

It might also be that not many will challenge a bald-headed 6-foot-3, 225 pound man who looks like he could have been a pro football linebacker, but was really a firefighter/medic, logger, and commercial fisherman.

But, it’s probably because, above everything else, Geo Beach, an award-winning journalist, knows the media. And right now, he knows that his series definitely, absolutely, is not Reality TV.
JULY 2008
GeoBeach>>

It’s Still the Economy, Stupid

George W. Bush looked into the TV camera, Tuesday morning [July 15] and tried to assuage the fears of about 300 million Americans who believed they were in the middle of a Recession.

“The economy is growing,” said the President. “Productivity is high,” he told us. “Trade’s up. People are working,” he said. In the Bush White House, the “R Word” is just a myth. Of course, the man who once wanted to be known as the Compassionate Conservative did say he knew “It’s been a difficult time for many American families.”

“Difficult” doesn’t even begin to describe what has happened to Americans the past seven years.
JULY 2008
Economy>>

The Rocket’s Red Glare
May Be Chinese

Wearing a pith helmet and brandishing a blunderbuss, Marshbaum burst into my office and ordered me to the floor. I looked at my faux friend and media foil, about to ask him what his latest scheme was. With Marshbaum, who was fed “Honeymooners” episodes by IV when he was a child, everything is a scheme to make money. But, in the fraction of time I had before he yelled for me to get under my desk and cover my head, I quickly determined he was serious.
JULY 2008
Rocket>>

Squabbling Over the Pigeon Bill:
Pennsylvania Legislature Won’t Be
Able to Soar Like Eagles Until It
Shoots Down Animal Cruelty

Dave Comroe stepped to the firing line, raised his 12-gauge Browning over and under shotgun, aimed and fired. Before him, a pigeon fell, moments after being released from a box less than 20 yards away. About 25 times that day Comroe fired, hitting about three-fourths of the birds. He was 16 at the time.
JUNE 2008
Animal Cruelty>>

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