Reliable Idiots

Reliable Idiots

When I was in my teens, Brent Musburger was on CBS covering the NFL. During one such telecast, my father told me Musburger was an idiot. I took Dad at his word and remained skeptical. In the 1980s, I was watching a college football game with my sons, both of whom are...
Human To the End

Human To the End

The truth is that the strong don’t always survive. Usually the weak survive and the cowardly and the mediocre. They gather their forces to destroy the strong because the strong are at the core of their fear. (Pete Hamill, Forever) The same day I published this...
Oh, Look! An Ambulance!

Oh, Look! An Ambulance!

This was quite the morning. First, I read this, from my horoscope: How exactly do you hold onto your ideals in a world where it seems like the whole game is rigged for greed, competition, and conformity? Then I read this — “John Edwards (yes, that one) looks to...
The Ox is Gored

The Ox is Gored

“What do you get for the man who has everything?” That question is so frequently asked it’s become a cliché. But if you happen to have that perennially smug gas-guzzling gasbag, flimflam artist, and serial hypocrite, Al Gore, on your Christmas list,...
Authenticity is the New Integrity

Authenticity is the New Integrity

If you read this article from Fast Company — “What Does Authenticity Really Mean?”  — you’ll get a smorgasbord of options: According to one person cited in the article, “If you want to be a leader, you have to be yourself—skillfully.” So,...
The Straight DOPE

The Straight DOPE

The story you’re about to read is true. The names have been changed to protect the guilty. In my entire working life, only one attempt has been made to stiff me for an invoice. It was the mid-1990s. Having been cut loose from The Travelers Managed Care and...