Editorials
529 results
Page 36
The Supreme Court evades gay marriage
‘This is my job'— isn't it?
The Supreme Court justices' reluctance to decide a case before them last week reminded me of the one time I appeared in a courtroom as a defendant.
Editorials
5 minute read
Obama the chess player
Obama and those speeches that ‘failed'
The Inquirer's Trudy Rubin scolds President Obama for wasting his time in the Middle East on speeches to students. Please remind me: Who was behind the Arab Spring, which seemingly no one but Obama expected?
Editorials
3 minute read
Philadelphia Magazine on "being white'
The terror and the tedium: On being white in Philadelphia
Like most white Philadelphians, I could feel my heart thumping excitedly when I saw the headline on Philadelphia Magazine's March cover story: “Being White in Philly.” At last, I thought, they're doing a story about me!
Editorials
4 minute read
Toby Zinman and her critics
The critic and her critics
Arts critics usually fall into one of three categories: journalists, academics and groupies. Toby Zinman, the Inquirer's current lead drama critic, defies such easy categorization, which is mostly to her credit. But a lack of formal grounding can cause great pain when you're suddenly thrown into the pool without it.
Editorials
6 minute read
The trouble with papal infallibility
The unbearable lightness of being infallible
To some observers, the pope is a rare modern example of an absolute dictator. Yet far from enhancing the pope's power, the doctrine of papal infallibility locks every pope in to the rulings of his predecessors. How did a church that once attracted the brightest minds in Christendom wind up with such shallow leadership?
Editorials
7 minute read
Johnny Deadline, composer (parody)
They call me Johnny Deadline, or: No country for old composers
The Pope, the Muslim Brotherhood, the Taliban and the Quakers were all breathing down my neck for a piece of my creativity. Could I take the pressure? For a deadline composer, it was just another day at the office.
Editorials
5 minute read
History lesson from David Brooks
To emigrate or not: My ancestors weigh the pros and cons
The New York Times columnist David Brooks urges today's self-centered Americans to sacrifice the present for the future, as our immigrant ancestors did. Do you suppose he was in the room when my own forebears first decided to emigrate to America?
Editorials
5 minute read
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Brave new world of blogging
In control, out of control: Bloggers, editors and BSR
Roz Warren has discovered the difference between the New York Times and its website. Basically, it's the difference between total control and anarchy. Here at BSR, we seek a happy medium.
Editorials
5 minute read
Inflated résumés and "encouraged memory'
The reinvention of Buffalo Bill (with a little help from you and me)
The human capacity for self-delusion is infinite. Most of us doctor our personal résumés to suit our particular fantasies, and as we grow older there are fewer people around to challenge us. Public figures— and we media types— are the worst offenders.
Editorials
6 minute read
Should New Jersey leave the Union?
Farewell, New Jersey
Some Texans want to secede from the Union— and some Northerners say good riddance. But why focus on Texas when we have a much more serious candidate for expulsion right here in our own back yard?
Editorials
4 minute read