by Bill Hennessy and Jim Durbin John Knowles’s classic novel, A Separate Peace, begins memorably: I went back to the Devon School not long ago, and found it looking oddly newer than when I was a student there fifteen years before . . . as if a coat of varnish had been put over everything… [Read more…]
February 21, 2012
I see is all the time. Supporters of Establishment candidates complain that their opponents are establishment, too. We saw it in the Missouri 2nd District. We see in the GOP Presidential primary. The last refuge of the Establishment’s candidates is to spread the pain of the Establishment label. What many people don’t get is what… [Read more…]
February 9, 2012
There are some things you just don’t say in a cover letter—or on the campaign trail. A self-aggrandizing cover letter from an NYU undergrad to some Wall Street banks has the whole financial world laughing. The kid’s naïve hubris and ignorance of what employers look for in a candidate earned him public humiliation on an… [Read more…]
February 9, 2012
There are some things you just don’t say in a cover letter—or on the campaign trail. A self-aggrandizing cover letter from an NYU undergrad to some Wall Street banks has the whole financial world laughing. The kid’s naïve hubris and ignorance of what employers look for in a candidate earned him public humiliation on an… [Read more…]
January 11, 2012
Okay, Santorum and Gingrich didn’t get a bump out of their debates over the weekend. More like the bump got them. And Ron Paul did way better than I expected. Congratulations to Dr. Paul and Mitt. I still think my Saturday night post accurately reflected the national impressions, though. That’s backed up by this CBS… [Read more…]
January 3, 2012
That’s with 88 percent of the counting complete. The bigger story: Romney’s underperforming his 2008 results in key counties. Santorum outperforming Huckabee in 2008. What does it all mean? Conservatives and libertarians dominate the caucuses. Romney is the choice of the Republican establishment. The cronies poured millions into his campaign even before he declared himself… [Read more…]
December 20, 2011
The middle of the road is fine until you have to get somewhere. I voted for Bob Dole in 1996. Yet his nomination drove me away from political activism for years. I got out of the Navy in the fall of 1994. I watched the GOP reclaim the House with my nephew, Scott. I expected… [Read more…]
December 14, 2011
A friend of mine told me this story. He sat that there bragging about getting a tax cut for friends of his. I said, ‘you do realize, don’t you, that you’re just like the Democrats, except you’re giving taxpayers money to a different special interest.’ He looked at me and said, ‘but our special interests… [Read more…]
December 7, 2011
Yes, the establishment wants you to go away. Are you going to obey? With a little help from The Atlantic and New York Times (of all places), we can put together a strategy to recognize and deflect the establishment’s tactics. Put this in your back pocket. You’ll need it before primary season is over. Establishment… [Read more…]
December 6, 2011
A few years ago, Malcolm Gladwell wrote an awesome article for The New Yorker: How David Beats Goliath. Read it after you read this. The story encourages and frustrates at the same time. Encourages because we learn Davids can, occasionally, beat Goliaths. Frustrates because Goliaths tend to change the rules just before the epic battle.… [Read more…]
December 4, 2011
Some center-right people take their ball and go home. Guess who? Since the 2010 election, we’ve heard from the Establishment (GOP, MSM, DNC) that Tea Partiers are too puritanical. The elitist theory holds that Tea Partiers demand doctrinaire allegiance to some engraved-granite list of principles. Stray from that list, and the Tea Party will hunt… [Read more…]
March 28, 2012
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