A tried-and-true advertising concept is a technique called myth analysis. In it, the marketer establishes a narrative that has nothing to do with the product, but which sticks in the minds of consumers. It applies to beer and beach volleyball, GEICO and geckos, Budweiser and Clydesdales, AFLAC and a duck. It applies as well to…
DetailsSomeone explain why Republicans like Don Coram are so hard to find. You’ll have to travel all the way to Montrose, Colo., to find him, unless he’s in the Colorado state Capitol. There the state representative recently encountered frustration with fellow Republicans on something you’d think every person of any persuasion would support: fewer…
DetailsOur subject here is two self-evident and highly political truths: (1) School vouchers, by whatever name they’re called, are deceitful at their core. (2) Whatever proponents may call them, school vouchers aren’t really about education at all. We’ll talk about the ramifications of this deceit regarding vital K-12 public institutions, but first: In…
DetailsWar is the biggest big-government endeavor. So riddle me this: Why is it that the politicians quickest to salute the power of war tend to be the most anti-government? That’s right. Those most prone to swear by government in war say our government can’t possibly facilitate, say, health coverage for its own…
DetailsChances of war with Iran, says career Middle East journalist Barbara Slavin, went down “a gazillion” with the framework for a nuclear agreement. Ah, fudge. Never fear. Or fear. Hardliners in Congress will do their very best to change the percentages. Slavin, who covered Iran for the Washington Post and is now…
DetailsThe subjects were protest and time. A thoughtful teen told me that protest today just doesn’t have the efficiency that protest must have had, say, in the ’60s. I told her she had a misimpression. The Supreme Court ruled segregated schools unconstitutional in 1954, I told her, yet 30 years later some school districts…
DetailsJelly shoes. Guys with frosted hair tips. Hand-held games. Wallet chains. Sony DiscMan. Netscape. Giga Pets. They’re remnants of another decade. And so in one regard is the man who offers to shape up America’s schools this century. Jeb Bush’s education policies come from another time altogether. They come from a time when…
DetailsNinety-four percent of the residents of Denver, Colo., have health coverage. By contrast, if state averages apply, only 76 percent of those in Denver City, Texas, do. Do you live in Denver, Fla., east of Gainesville? Based on the state average, you have a one-in-five chance of having no health coverage. Good luck…
DetailsOn “The Nightly Show,” Comedy Central’s Larry Wilmore nailed it. After the University of Oklahoma kicked its SAE fraternity off campus for a racist display that even for rich white boys was way past the pale, Wilmore quipped: "Don't worry; you won't be seeing any more of those frat boys — until…
DetailsAs the Oscars telecast moved on with impassioned acceptance speeches, one pondered the hypersonic rate at which Republican viewers were finding other fare. Yes, we’re talking five times the speed of sound. How many Republicans left when “Imitation Game” screenwriter Dustin Black spoke for gay rights? Or when Patricia Arquette for equal…
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