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Media
August 21, 2007
Getting Third-Railed
In February, William Safire of the New York Times used his On Language column to look into the origin of the oft-used warning that a particular issue is "the third rail of American politics." He found that the phrase—first coined by Kirk O'Donnell, an aide to former Speaker of the House Tip O'Neil—has been in existence for only 25 years. For most of that time, the "third rail" only referred to Social Security. Lately though, every political stance beyond kissing babies seems to be cursed.
Media
June 28, 2007
Lady Justice Wears the Pants
This week, District of Columbia judge Roy Pearson lost his $54 million lawsuit against a dry-cleaning company for losing a pair of his pants. The ensuing news coverage proved that media outlets are no slacks when it comes to fabricating jokes on the fly. After the jump are some of Gelf's favorite corny headlines sporting pants-related puns.
Politics
May 16, 2007
The Third Party Nadir
Last week, antiwar Republican Senator Chuck Hagel told CBS's Face the Nation that he would not rule out an independent presidential bid in '08, and called on New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to join him on the ticket. Taken together with Bloomberg's recent re-launching of his personal website, Senator Hagel's comments have fueled renewed speculation about a serious independent run emerging in 2008. However, a brief look at the historical record indicates that Chuck and Mike—should they decide to team up—would face a daunting task.
Media
May 15, 2007
Turning Press Releases Into News
Monday is the typical day for reporters to unload non-perishable crap stories so they don’t have to work over the weekend. But it appears that the New York Times has decided to extend that practice to Tuesday, perhaps because of those Monday blues. For the third time in four years, an education reporter has taken spoon-fed, ridiculous PR from the ACT and tried to pass it off as news.
Education
February 26, 2007
Stereotyping Sororities
In the New York Times article about the sorority drama that is engulfing DePauw University, Pam Propsom is mentioned as the psychology professor who surveyed her classes and found that the women of the Delta Zeta house were considered to be "socially awkward." Concerned about the welfare of that chapter, the sorority's national officers came to the school and kicked out 23 members, including, according to the Times, all of the overweight women and most of the minorities. Slightly confused as to what sort of survey asks these sorts of questions, and wondering whether the results of this study were in any way the cause of why these women were kicked out, Gelf called up Propsom to learn more.
Politics
November 8, 2006
The South Dakota Disconnect
South Dakota voters defeated the state ban on all abortions on Tuesday by a 12 percent margin (Rapid City Journal). This defeat means greater freedom of choice for South Dakota women, and it means that the ban will not go further in the judicial process. What it also means, though, is that South Dakota's legislature has not been pursuing the will of its constituents.
Politics
November 7, 2006
No Oscar for Kean Campaign
Institutional memory is important at newspapers. Consider how it helped a reporter undermine a political candidate's aborted effort to smear his rival ahead of today's election.
Politics
August 7, 2006
Ann Coulter Is Full of …
hatred towards low-flush toilets. The conservative author and would-be comedian is full of hatred towards lots of things, but Gelf can't help but wonder why she is single-mindedly intent on protecting the seven-gallon toilet flush. This first came to our attention when reading a recent Baltimore Sun interview in which Coulter said, "My ideal America would have no liberals and 7-gallon flush toilets in every bathroom." (Presumably, the liberals could simply be flushed down the toilet.) But this is not just a throw-away line for Coulter.
Politics
March 28, 2006
Daughter Grows Older at Usual Rate, Shocking Mayor
With more than 21 months left in his term, Gary, Indiana, mayor Scott L. King resigned. His stated reason: His daughter is a high-school senior and he needs to return to the private sector—he used to have a private law practice—to earn more than the $107,000 mayoral salary to pay for her college education. "This child is so focused on getting into the best university in the country," King said at a press conference, according to the Northwest Indiana News. The paper sympathetically added, "King also has two other children in college, one about to graduate and another a freshman."
Politics
March 27, 2006
The Insurgency, Oh How 'He Surged'
You'd have to read deep into two New York Times articles on Iraq to find two interesting tidbits. The first, from a dispatch about a successful hostage rescue mission and a concurrent spate of car bombings, revealed that Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, a US military spokesman, has sidestepped the controversy about the numerical strength of the insurgency (Daily Kos) by reducing it to the pronoun "he."
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