President Donald Trump announced he was dropping Mike Pence from the ticket and adding a new running mate for the 2020 election. We go live now to the presidential press conference. Press Secretary McEnany: Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States. President Donald Trump: Thank you. Effective right now, I will have a…
Good morning Mr. President. Let’s go. Sure. My job this morning is to administer this cognitive test. Shouldn’t take more than about 15 minutes. Most people do fine on this. So let’s get started, shall we? Great. I’m ready. Always ready. I see you’re wearing a mask. I hope that doesn’t mean you’re biased against…
Should companies make political statements? I pondered this when I received a clearly political message in the catalog for the Uline, the company I get my shipping supplies from. Uline’s catalog is over 700 pages long. It’s filled with everything from corrugated cardboard boxes to book shippers, which I use a lot of. You could…
On Papa John’s most recent earnings call, its CEO and founder John H. Schnatter blamed poor results in part on controversies surrounding the NFL, which the restaurant chain sponsors. Stepping into the middle of a political controversy was a mistake. So was clumsily trying to walk it back on Twitter. What Papa John’s said on…
I’ve enjoyed joining the ranks of all the independents who are their own bosses. America has made this, not just possible, but glorious — at least until somebody screws it up. After working for companies continuously for 33 years — since I was 23 — I left my job two years ago. Since then I…
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…
When a U.S. administration changes, so does the president’s website. Under Trump, the new whitehouse.gov addresses six issues, each with a short, simple, direct block of text. Unlike the president, it’s focused, clear, and effective. My social feeds were full of protests when the pages for LGBT rights and climate change disappeared from whitehouse.gov. Were you really…
If you’re a liberal, Donald Trump’s presidency gives you two choices: fight fiercely against everything conservative or Republican, or find common cause with Republicans against Trump’s excesses. The angry fight will make you feel good for a moment. The rapprochement might save our democracy. Democrats are about to enter hell. Republicans controls Congress. The new president…
The divisions in the country have spilled over into commerce, with calls to boycott businesses from Nordstrom’s to Kellogg’s. Feel free to boycott businesses that backed a candidate you despise. But draw the line at extending those boycotts up the supply chain, because that way lies madness. After the most vitriolic election in memory, the country…