Finally, writing that points to a root problem in society - the lack of empathy - instead of another opinion piece from the left or the right. More of this, please!
Thank you sincerely for that! If we can keep gathering others of like mind on this point alone, it would make a better (and more interesting) world for sure!
"Here is where the Father of our Country built his character. Here is where hundreds of thousands of men sacrificed themselves on the altar of freedom to decide the fate of millions not yet born in a port city where thousands would have their freedom denied." This is a wonderful bit of prose. Thank you for enriching my day with it.
Good piece but be cautious about suggesting parity between two sides of the equation. One side plays by the rules of democracy and seeks to have a revived conservative viewpoint. The other side no longer believes in democracy and seeks ways to have its minority viewpoint prevail by limiting the voting potential of its opposition. See today's vote in Ohio.
According to evidence presented at trial, the McDonnells obtained from Williams more than $170,000 in direct payments as gifts and loans, thousands of dollars in golf outings, and numerous items. As part of the scheme, Robert McDonnell arranged meetings for Williams with Virginia government officials, hosted and attended events at the Governor’s Mansion designed to encourage Virginia university researchers to initiate studies of Star’s products and to promote Star’s products to doctors, contacted other Virginia government officials to encourage Virginia state research universities to initiate studies of Star’s products, and promoted Star’s products and facilitated its relationships with Virginia government officials.
The evidence further showed that the McDonnells attempted to conceal the things of value received from Williams and Star to hide the nature and scope of their dealings with Williams from the citizens of Virginia by, for example, routing gifts and loans through family members and corporate entities controlled by the former governor to avoid annual disclosure requirements.
So you trash good journalism and you want to be a journalist? Better start putting that nose to the grindstone and go back to my first posting about facts, not opinion. I must school you, young tike, in the ways and history of a great profession. Break out the cigars. We have a lot to talk about.
How many logical fallacies can you commit in the first half of a single essay? Seem to be going for the record here. Honestly, Marty, you're too thoughtful a person and too good a writer not so see how shallow and slanted this guy's diatribes against progressives and journalism are here. Also, he writes, "Nonpartisan discourse has destroyed what makes America – and particularly, Virginia – the miracle that we are." I believe what he intended to say was just the opposite: "Partisan discourse has destroyed what makes America...." Then again, maybe he said what he truly meant. Just check out one of his screeds in his Republican Standard online publication.
How ironic to protest "screeds" with a screed of one's own?
I'll repeat it -- non-partisan discourse has destroyed what makes America the miracle that we are. There is nothing more partisan than non-partisan discourse (and perhaps, nothing more of a unicorn to chase than the non-partisan). More often than not, it tends to enforce one point of view and one point alone. Hardly the voice of diversity...
Just because we don't like a thing doesn't make it a logical fallacy. This may surprise you, but not everyone is a progressive. In fact, there are serious and sincere differences of opinion in America... which is all the more reason why the multi-partisan is superior to the padded room of the non-partisan.
Glad to broaden your horizons a bit! Who knows? Maybe we might learn to disagree with one another without being disagreeable? Rare trait... but one worth cultivating.
Someone always gets a bloody lip if you spar in the tradition of Hemingway. I have an unfair advantage. Only one of us looks the part and writes novels.
If you remember Watergate, which I assume you might have been in diapers at the time, there were two years of stories leading up to the climax. The Post is following the same path today exposing Trump's corruption. It's already won two Pulitizers for its Trump coverage and it ain't over yet. It barely won the one it received for its Watergate coverage. Only behind-the-scenes politicking won it for the Post.
As for the Virginia Press, it uncovered a corrupt governor McDonnell who only escaped prison because of a friendly state Supreme Court. BTW, the man involved in the McDonnell scandal went to Stafford High School--with me. He was a damned good receiver in gym class. I know, because I was the quarterback.
Oh I dunno about that. My beard is pretty dense. I doubt my articles will be found in airport kiosks anytime soon, that's not my goal (and far be it from me to chip away at anyone else's happiness as a paperback writer... more Beatles than Hemingway?)
The industry patting itself on the back doesn't interest me (or many others). What should dim our view of it is that the onanism which passes for reporting today is worthy of a Pulitzer in the first place. Simply cheapens the distinction.
Bari Weiss, Glen Greenwald, Matt Taibbi... that's where journalism is today. When independent thinkers of that caliber who have the reputation of being excellent investigative journalists can't survive the cubicle dwellers, that should be a sign.
You mention McDonnell, where the man was dragged through the mud for -- wait for it -- vitamin pills. Not sure in retrospect the juice was worth the squeeze. Before that? Macaca? Blogs dug that up. Northam's avocation(s) in his yearbook? Corey Stewart's old oppo file -- and then immediately swept under the rug when it became apparent that Justin Fairfax might become governor. Even the "Russia dossier" got its start as a Jeb Bush oppo doc -- but it's great press, I suppose.
If these are the examples of a healthy press, I'd hate to see the examples of a sick one.
You obviously don't come from a military family if you think the military is a bunch of leftists. And to say the same for first responders? When did you last talk to a cop or fireman?
Your journalism history is off by a couple of decades. (Sorry, but your youth is showing.) Carl Bernstein started as a copy boy for the Washington Star and could not move up to reporter because he didn't have a college degree (required by the Star in the '60s). After a stint in New Jersey, he was hired in '66 at the Post because he was a beautiful stylist, but he was in the minority when it came to education. (However, talent still meant something.) By the '60s, "Hello sweetheart, get me rewrite," was a thing of the nostalgic past. Journalism was now a white collar job.
I realize your youth is talking, so let a geezer explain. I agree a great deal of us lack empathy these days. A lot of that has to do with the way we view and assert facts. You write a beautiful column, but your facts are like unbrushed teeth. A bit fuzzy.
Now that's an odd point to quibble over, Mr. Pullen. Not sure I said any of that, but that's ultimately immaterial. We are here to DISAGREE! (TM) and ARGUE! (TM) until one of the two of us is thoroughly beaten out of the public square because DISAGREE (TM!) and ARGUE (TM!)
Boring... but sure, why not?
As for the military + first responders being the most resilient against the "spirit of the age" (sic), I suspect it has a great deal to do with the very serious ontological realities they contend with every day. If they screw up, someone gets hurt. If the media screws up, they print the next day. If entertainment screws up, they just make another B-rate film... which is perhaps why they are contested, but the last ones to bend. This having been said, talk to your average enlisted servicemember and one will find out quickly that the institution is not the same one their daddies and granddaddies served under -- especially among the officers.
I seem to remember the quality of shoe-leather reporting from the likes of Tyler Whitley, Bob Lewis, and Jeff Schapiro in Richmond back in my time. Bernstein (before my time) as the last of the blue-collar reporters at the WaPo would demonstrate the fact that the gangrene which had taken hold there hadn't visited itself here on major Virginia newspapers (at least, just yet).
Quibbling as to precisely when the patient got sick probably would have qualified as an honor violation at Mr. Jefferson's University in a different time... and probably about the time when we started trading intellectual curiosity for the mere viewpoints and assertion of facts. Much good has that done the world.
As for geezers and their fuzz, I plead the fifth (and not alcohol). Good luck!
Quibbling? Ah. A put down from Mr. Jefferson's University. Tisk, Tisk.
And the Washington Post, which has uncovered more government scandal in the past decade than it ever did during the golden years of Ben Bradlee, is gangrenous? Please tell the Pulitzer Board that.
Facts and viewpoints speak for themselves. Intellectual curiosity struggles to do so without them.
As for pleading the fifth? My place or yours? I have a bottle waiting.
I am confused. My email about today’s offering talked about Youngkin’s stadium. I was taken to Shaun Kenney’s commentary. My substack app listed Shaun Kenney’s commentary and that’s what I saw. What am I missing?
Finally, writing that points to a root problem in society - the lack of empathy - instead of another opinion piece from the left or the right. More of this, please!
Susan --
Thank you sincerely for that! If we can keep gathering others of like mind on this point alone, it would make a better (and more interesting) world for sure!
Warm regards,
"Here is where the Father of our Country built his character. Here is where hundreds of thousands of men sacrificed themselves on the altar of freedom to decide the fate of millions not yet born in a port city where thousands would have their freedom denied." This is a wonderful bit of prose. Thank you for enriching my day with it.
Rick --
You are very welcome, sir! Thanks for writing and thanks for reading!
w/r
Good piece but be cautious about suggesting parity between two sides of the equation. One side plays by the rules of democracy and seeks to have a revived conservative viewpoint. The other side no longer believes in democracy and seeks ways to have its minority viewpoint prevail by limiting the voting potential of its opposition. See today's vote in Ohio.
Erik Nelson
Vitamin pills? Really?
From the Department of Justice:
According to evidence presented at trial, the McDonnells obtained from Williams more than $170,000 in direct payments as gifts and loans, thousands of dollars in golf outings, and numerous items. As part of the scheme, Robert McDonnell arranged meetings for Williams with Virginia government officials, hosted and attended events at the Governor’s Mansion designed to encourage Virginia university researchers to initiate studies of Star’s products and to promote Star’s products to doctors, contacted other Virginia government officials to encourage Virginia state research universities to initiate studies of Star’s products, and promoted Star’s products and facilitated its relationships with Virginia government officials.
The evidence further showed that the McDonnells attempted to conceal the things of value received from Williams and Star to hide the nature and scope of their dealings with Williams from the citizens of Virginia by, for example, routing gifts and loans through family members and corporate entities controlled by the former governor to avoid annual disclosure requirements.
So you trash good journalism and you want to be a journalist? Better start putting that nose to the grindstone and go back to my first posting about facts, not opinion. I must school you, young tike, in the ways and history of a great profession. Break out the cigars. We have a lot to talk about.
How many logical fallacies can you commit in the first half of a single essay? Seem to be going for the record here. Honestly, Marty, you're too thoughtful a person and too good a writer not so see how shallow and slanted this guy's diatribes against progressives and journalism are here. Also, he writes, "Nonpartisan discourse has destroyed what makes America – and particularly, Virginia – the miracle that we are." I believe what he intended to say was just the opposite: "Partisan discourse has destroyed what makes America...." Then again, maybe he said what he truly meant. Just check out one of his screeds in his Republican Standard online publication.
How ironic to protest "screeds" with a screed of one's own?
I'll repeat it -- non-partisan discourse has destroyed what makes America the miracle that we are. There is nothing more partisan than non-partisan discourse (and perhaps, nothing more of a unicorn to chase than the non-partisan). More often than not, it tends to enforce one point of view and one point alone. Hardly the voice of diversity...
Just because we don't like a thing doesn't make it a logical fallacy. This may surprise you, but not everyone is a progressive. In fact, there are serious and sincere differences of opinion in America... which is all the more reason why the multi-partisan is superior to the padded room of the non-partisan.
Glad to broaden your horizons a bit! Who knows? Maybe we might learn to disagree with one another without being disagreeable? Rare trait... but one worth cultivating.
Cheers!
Someone always gets a bloody lip if you spar in the tradition of Hemingway. I have an unfair advantage. Only one of us looks the part and writes novels.
If you remember Watergate, which I assume you might have been in diapers at the time, there were two years of stories leading up to the climax. The Post is following the same path today exposing Trump's corruption. It's already won two Pulitizers for its Trump coverage and it ain't over yet. It barely won the one it received for its Watergate coverage. Only behind-the-scenes politicking won it for the Post.
As for the Virginia Press, it uncovered a corrupt governor McDonnell who only escaped prison because of a friendly state Supreme Court. BTW, the man involved in the McDonnell scandal went to Stafford High School--with me. He was a damned good receiver in gym class. I know, because I was the quarterback.
Oh I dunno about that. My beard is pretty dense. I doubt my articles will be found in airport kiosks anytime soon, that's not my goal (and far be it from me to chip away at anyone else's happiness as a paperback writer... more Beatles than Hemingway?)
The industry patting itself on the back doesn't interest me (or many others). What should dim our view of it is that the onanism which passes for reporting today is worthy of a Pulitzer in the first place. Simply cheapens the distinction.
Bari Weiss, Glen Greenwald, Matt Taibbi... that's where journalism is today. When independent thinkers of that caliber who have the reputation of being excellent investigative journalists can't survive the cubicle dwellers, that should be a sign.
You mention McDonnell, where the man was dragged through the mud for -- wait for it -- vitamin pills. Not sure in retrospect the juice was worth the squeeze. Before that? Macaca? Blogs dug that up. Northam's avocation(s) in his yearbook? Corey Stewart's old oppo file -- and then immediately swept under the rug when it became apparent that Justin Fairfax might become governor. Even the "Russia dossier" got its start as a Jeb Bush oppo doc -- but it's great press, I suppose.
If these are the examples of a healthy press, I'd hate to see the examples of a sick one.
You obviously don't come from a military family if you think the military is a bunch of leftists. And to say the same for first responders? When did you last talk to a cop or fireman?
Your journalism history is off by a couple of decades. (Sorry, but your youth is showing.) Carl Bernstein started as a copy boy for the Washington Star and could not move up to reporter because he didn't have a college degree (required by the Star in the '60s). After a stint in New Jersey, he was hired in '66 at the Post because he was a beautiful stylist, but he was in the minority when it came to education. (However, talent still meant something.) By the '60s, "Hello sweetheart, get me rewrite," was a thing of the nostalgic past. Journalism was now a white collar job.
I realize your youth is talking, so let a geezer explain. I agree a great deal of us lack empathy these days. A lot of that has to do with the way we view and assert facts. You write a beautiful column, but your facts are like unbrushed teeth. A bit fuzzy.
Now that's an odd point to quibble over, Mr. Pullen. Not sure I said any of that, but that's ultimately immaterial. We are here to DISAGREE! (TM) and ARGUE! (TM) until one of the two of us is thoroughly beaten out of the public square because DISAGREE (TM!) and ARGUE (TM!)
Boring... but sure, why not?
As for the military + first responders being the most resilient against the "spirit of the age" (sic), I suspect it has a great deal to do with the very serious ontological realities they contend with every day. If they screw up, someone gets hurt. If the media screws up, they print the next day. If entertainment screws up, they just make another B-rate film... which is perhaps why they are contested, but the last ones to bend. This having been said, talk to your average enlisted servicemember and one will find out quickly that the institution is not the same one their daddies and granddaddies served under -- especially among the officers.
I seem to remember the quality of shoe-leather reporting from the likes of Tyler Whitley, Bob Lewis, and Jeff Schapiro in Richmond back in my time. Bernstein (before my time) as the last of the blue-collar reporters at the WaPo would demonstrate the fact that the gangrene which had taken hold there hadn't visited itself here on major Virginia newspapers (at least, just yet).
Quibbling as to precisely when the patient got sick probably would have qualified as an honor violation at Mr. Jefferson's University in a different time... and probably about the time when we started trading intellectual curiosity for the mere viewpoints and assertion of facts. Much good has that done the world.
As for geezers and their fuzz, I plead the fifth (and not alcohol). Good luck!
w/r
Quibbling? Ah. A put down from Mr. Jefferson's University. Tisk, Tisk.
And the Washington Post, which has uncovered more government scandal in the past decade than it ever did during the golden years of Ben Bradlee, is gangrenous? Please tell the Pulitzer Board that.
Facts and viewpoints speak for themselves. Intellectual curiosity struggles to do so without them.
As for pleading the fifth? My place or yours? I have a bottle waiting.
Can we think of the last big story the WaPo broke over the last decade? Or any regional Virginia newspaper over the last 15 years?
That's the key right there. The last real hurrah of the Virginia press corps might have been "macaca" in 2006. We see where that has gotten folks.
I'll buy the fifth; your place will be fine. We can trade out afterwards. Always enjoy sparring in the tradition of Hemingway!
I am confused. My email about today’s offering talked about Youngkin’s stadium. I was taken to Shaun Kenney’s commentary. My substack app listed Shaun Kenney’s commentary and that’s what I saw. What am I missing?