December 10, 2014
The Pun Under Attack in China
According to Wikipedia: The pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play that suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can...
December 9, 2014
The Usual Suspects
(This originally appeared in The Hill.) It’s the easiest story to write for the mostly younger journalists on Capitol Hill: the conservative uprising against the Republican leadership. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz hosted a press conference last week on the House side,...
December 8, 2014
Social Media in the Age of Ferguson
You can go on any Facebook page across America and find a pretty fulsome discussion about Ferguson. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Social media is driving the story on race relations in this country. Historians are...
December 5, 2014
How the GOP Gains From Focusing on Spending Now and Immigration Later
(This originally appeared in the Wall Street Journal’s Think Tank) Amid tension over funding the government past next week’s deadline, Congress has invented a term that brings back memories of the 2012 losing Republican presidential nominee–for no reason other than it...
December 4, 2014
Is the Grand Jury System Broken?
At the demand of the British Nobility, King John included the use of Grand Juries in the Magna Carta, although Henry II had first established the process in 1066. The Grand Jury was the way the British people put their...
December 3, 2014
The Connection Between Steve Bartman and Elizabeth Lauten
As many of you may know, I have utter contempt for the Chicago Cubs. I come by it naturally. My Dad hates the Cubs. My grandfather hated the Cubs. I assume that my Great-Grandfather hated the Cubs. It’s in my...