According to the Washington Post, FBI special counsel Robert Mueller is investigating Donald Trump for obstruction of justice. The Post’s White House Bureau Chief Philip Rucker tweeted a picture of the Republican National Committee’s talking points to rebut the story. It’s a good case study in the difference between blowing smoke and actual counterarguments. Talking…
My non-profit needs to build an online community with some very specific requirements and a completely new Web site. So I posted for help on Facebook. I got some great responses and some awful ones, which revealed a lot about the business netiquette of social media. While messages on Facebook are informal, they succeed only when they’re…
Uber’s culture is aggressive with questionable ethics. Yesterday they announced the reforms they will make, and also said CEO Travis Kalanick would take a leave. Kalanick’s leave will ensure that none of the proposed cultural changes will happen. Everything Uber did wrong OK, that heading is inaccurate. I haven’t got space to list everything Uber did wrong in…
The Public Theater, producer of Shakespeare in the Park, justified its production of a Donald Trump-tinged Julius Caesar. Unlike its departing sponsors, Delta and Bank of America, The Public Theater defended its decision front and center on its website, and with a short speech before a performance. This is the right way to respond to an attack….
The Public Theater had a cool idea: stage Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar in modern dress, with Caesar played by a Donald Trump impersonator. (Perhaps you recall that the play includes a bloody assassination.) Now Delta Air Lines and Bank of America have pulled their sponsorships, but their statements dance around their real justifications. While liberals are calling…
The statement from Marc Kasowitz, Trump’s lawyer, regarding former FBI director James Comey’s testimony yesterday was, basically, “see, there’s nothing there.” Meanwhile, the Washington Post had this headline: “Comey testimony threatens to deepen political crisis engulfing White House.” The difference reveals how what you think depends on which facts and statements you want to concentrate on. As…
In advance of his testimony before the Senate today, former FBI head James Comey released a written statement. In it, he describes his interactions with President Trump regarding the FBI’s investigations into Russian interference in the US election. The statement is vivid, consistent, and appears free from bias. Comey wrote memos after each interaction with Trump,…
Tomorrow night, I’m going to be smiling ear-to-ear along with my nonprofit partners and the principals of a major foundation. We’ll be celebrating getting a $100,000 grant from The Cummings Foundation of Greater Boston. I’d like to explain how we got here, because if you’re seeking grants, our story might help you . . . and…
Yesterday, a commenter on this blog wrote, “I am not interested in your personal views about the President of the United States.” Why the political analysis in a blog about writing? Because my focus on clear writing and clear thinking demands that I take on whatever writing is in the public eye — and that includes…