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'Failures of Leadership' Is Just Code for Lack of Responsibility
Tweet Share on Facebook November 30, 2011 Comment (10)Good leadership is often critical to the performance of any sort of team or group. But increasingly, "failure of leadership" has become a buzzword excuse-phrase for simply not doing one's job.
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When Barney Frank Stopped Being 'The Gay Congressman'
Tweet Share on Facebook November 28, 2011 Comment (10)Rep. Barney Frank is not a gay activist. But he has done more for gays and lesbians in government than arguably anyone else in Congress.
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Michele Bachmann's Nuttiness Is No Reason for Sexism
Tweet Share on Facebook November 28, 2011 Comment (8)Rep. Michele Bachman is nothing if not a colorful and provocative candidate. She was one of the original "birthers" on Capitol Hill, raising absurd questions about President Obama's U.S. citizenship. She has said "all cultures are not equal." She pointed out the strange "coincidence" that swine flu broke out during both the Carter and Obama administrations.
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Thanksgiving in Budapest (We Didn't Put the Baby in the Oven)
Tweet Share on Facebook November 24, 2011 Comment (7)Thanksgiving has long been my favorite holiday. It's non-commercial, inclusive, and contains two of my favorite things—a great meal and football. And celebrating Thanksgiving while I was living abroad made me appreciate it even more. Ex-pat Americans tend to cling particularly closely to their native country's traditions, so Thanksgiving was always a special treat when I was living in Central Europe.
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Pizza a Vegetable? Congress—and Parents—Should Know Better
Tweet Share on Facebook November 21, 2011 Comment (5)Congress, by definition, is meant to represent the electorate. Its members are supposed to listen to constituents, to hear their concerns, and to act more or less accordingly. But that does not mean Congress should abandon its responsibility to exercise better judgment.
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Evictions Mark a New Start for 'Occupy Wall Street,' Not an End
Tweet Share on Facebook November 17, 2011 Comment (12)If fish and house guests both start to stink after three days, the staying power of the "Occupy" whatever movements around the country has been pretty impressive. Some have been camping out for months, with mixed relationships with local authorities. The Occupy Wall Street campers in New York were evicted; there have been disturbing reports of crime, including a shooting and a sexual assault, at other venues.
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Herman Cain's Sexual Harassment Charges Aren't Just a 'Distraction'
Tweet Share on Facebook November 16, 2011 Comment (7)Why, in the 21st century, does this country still struggle with matters of gender and sex?
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Penn State as Guilty as Catholic Church on Covering up Sex Abuse
Tweet Share on Facebook November 15, 2011 Comment (4)If the Pope is infallible, college sports must be the supreme deity.
How else to explain the anger and defiance of students at Penn State who wanted their football coach, the legendary Joe Paterno, permitted to continue coaching despite having failed to move aggressively to thwart child sexual abuse?
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Utah Mayor Mike Winder and the Dangers of 'Citizen Journalism'
Tweet Share on Facebook November 14, 2011 Comment (10)In the darkest days of the cash-strapped media business, some marketer—still on the payroll despite cuts to actual news-gathering and editing—came up with one of those business euphemisms that would be hilarious if it weren't so dangerous: "citizen journalist."
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Rick Perry's Good for a Laugh, If Not the Job of President
Tweet Share on Facebook November 10, 2011 Comment (14)Some people think Texas Gov. Rick Perry is showing that he isn't ready to be a presidential candidate, let alone president, because of the rather odd, verging on clueless, way he has been behaving on the campaign trail. And perhaps there are those who believe that "the media," which those same folks seem to believe operates as some sort of single-minded cabal, wants to drive Perry out.
