Copyright 2010 Ben S. Pollock Now that the Republicans have done so well in the 2010 elections, they should use their momentum to enact the next sweeping measure for our time: Universal conscription for all American youth. A measure of Democrats would support this as well. Reviving — and broadening and updating — the draft […]
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War Paths
Copyright 2010 Ben S. Pollock WASHINGTON, D.C. — Sometimes you have to stop and think. Often thinking and writing looks like loafing. As Steinbeck wrote: “I write many thousands of words a day and some of them go on paper.” It can take quite a while. Visiting Washington’s Vietnam Veterans Memorial for the first time […]
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Certifiably
First published in the November 2010 issue of the e-Columnist By Ben S. Pollock President, National Society of Newspaper Columnists “Politics make strange bedfellows” goes the quote by 19th-century newspaperman Charles Dudley Warner, and this fall it’s been columnists getting renown for jumping on the mattress. Columnists, commentators, news analysts, bloggers, interest-group hacks, cable yaks — […]
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It’s Just a Show
Here we are, 2010, a week before the national midterm elections. Where does the president appear to support his party and his policies and other endeavors. Not an interview with Katie, Brian or Diane — or their seconds, even though they’re all trained journalists. He didn’t drop in on Dave or Jay. The prez is […]
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But Seriously, Folks
The following is my column for the October 2010 edition of the monthly newsletter of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. Defining and analyzing humor is a pastime of humorless people.” — Robert Benchley To avoid betraying my idol, Mr. Benchley, I’ll rationalize. This is not analysis but a lesson on creating humor. Books I’ve […]
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Chair Up
Portable chairs these days are of a kind: metal rods supporting a hammock seat and back, designed to collapse and fit in a tubular cloth bag. It’s been impossible to find those web chairs, strips of woven plastic interlaced on a frame of light aluminum tubing; it just folds for transport. Web chairs are more […]